SWAMP Lab

The SWAMP Laboratory is an ultra-clean research facility for studying the sources, transformations, behaviour and fate of trace metals cycling in Soils, Water, Air, Manures, and Plants. A state-of-the-art lab constructed entirely of polypropylene and fed by an external air handling unit with HEPA filtration, the SWAMP facility consists of 3 separate clean rooms. The SWAMP lab is concerned with environmental quality in its broadest sense: the quality of our soil resources, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we eat. The orientation of this new facility is the pedosphere, and the focus of research is the so called “critical zone” which connects the lithosphere with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and the relevant chemical processes taking place there. The long-term objective of this research is to employ modern soil and aquatic sciences combined with analytical chemistry and isotope geochemistry to better understand how to sustainably manage our natural resources, maintain productive ecosystems and foster human health.