Analytical Lab

Value-Driven Analyses

The Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory has been working to become a hazardous-waste free laboratory for studying plant and soil sciences. Dr. Lincoln oversees three laboratories. One is a wet lab, and primarily used for soil, plant, and water sample preparation and extraction. The second lab houses analytical machines used for nutrient and other analyses. The third is a computer lab used for data and spatial analyses (GIS and remote sensing) and ethnographic research.

Equipment


All labs are available for the processing of raw samples, sample extractions for analyses, and some of the analytics. The analytical lab is fully functional with fume hoods, vacuum and gas lines, and distilled and purified water. Lab contains basic preparation equipment such as balances, pH meters, conductivity meters, colorimeters, centrifuges, hotplates and magnetic stirrers, soil and plant grinders, texture sorter, 2.5-400x LED microscopes, hot water and sonicator bath, microbalance, five convection drying ovens, enclosed air drying racks, oscillating and wrist-style shakers, muffle furnace, Wiley mill and ball mills, SPAD readers, florescence readers, brix meters, YSI meter, multiple HOBO field stations, and miscellaneous necessities. Setup includes an isotope clean room used to prepare natural abundance samples, a dark incubation room with halide fluorescent light and temperature-controlled incubation chambers, and a wet room for soil staging and sterilization.

Shared Equipment

In addition to labs and equipment being available to ICS lab members, some will also be available for other research groups. Usage of equipment will be determined by the PI with the following priorities: (1) Research by or in collaboration with the ICS Lab, (2) paid lab services, (3) graduate and undergraduate student research, (4) extension needs for Hawai’i Island, and (5) research groups not in collaboration with ICS Lab. Share equipment will include:

    • F-900 ethylene analyzer: This portable tool precisely measures ethylene emission of fruits and leaves without damaging the subject, allowing for analysis of ethylene at different points in time or phases of maturity.

    • XEPOS High Energy XRF: A spectrometer designed for rapid analysis of major, minor, and trace element concentrations in a wide range of applications. An extremely useful piece of equipment for analyzing composites such as soil.

Overview and submission of usage requests will be posted on the ICS Lab website. All users must be trained and authorized for use prior to accessing equipment. Please email indigenouscrops@gmail.com to discuss usage of equipment.