In case you were worried, I found out last night that my gamma counter was ordered (see previous post). Phew.
It will be arriving around August 1 next year, which should correspond to our labs and offices being completed after a summer of renovations.
--Dr. JZG
Friday, December 24, 2010
Lab set up trauma and the geranium err... germanium detector
One of the things that I am dealing with getting pulled together is my new lab. Last fall when I got offered the job I am now starting, I had a few days to come up with a list of everything I needed for a new lab and how much it would cost. The problem was, I didn't have much to go on. I have friends who have set up geomorph labs, but the labs I worked in in grad school were not what I envisioned my future lab to be. In addition, I needed to make sure that any really major equipment I may want got added in. Mostly I forgot about important things like consumables. Oops.
In any case, 75% of my start up is for a Geramanium Detector, which is a gamma counter and measures concentrations of short-lived radionuclides, like 137Cs and 210Pb. I plan to use it for sediment budgeting, tracking soil movement, and sediment profiling. It involves no wet chemistry and the only dangerous chemical is liquid nitrogen. So it's really accessible to undergrads. That's really important since I won't have any grad students.
My department recently got a grant to renovate research spaces, so last summer I was working with architects to get the plans for my new lab together. I mentioned the gamma detector at the time, but none of us knew that it required anything special. Then in the fall I decided to actually get a real quote for the thing for myself (rather than use a quote written for a friend). Turns out it needs a 2400 lb lead shield. Small (2x2 ft footprint), but REALLY heavy. That's bad for a 4th floor lab hanging over a big reception room (my lab). I also discovered that (a) my friend's quote didn't include everything you need to run the beast and (b) the price would go up significantly if I ordered in 2011. But, they can deliver at a date specified, so we could just order now and get it delivered next fall. Perfect. I also found out it needs to be fed weekly with liquid nitrogen (didn't see that one coming... more about that later).
So I started working with my department chair and the architects to figure out where it could go in the lab. The answer is "probably nowhere without paying us $4000 to get a special assessment of the hallway". So we found an alternate location - a basement with only 2 steps down. Then we had to get a variety of special things approved - order with a back up location, money for the assessment of the hallway, and other things like that. I got the quote extended to the end of the year and everything else was finally sent to purchasing last Wednesday. Since we were traveling (en route to Beijing), I didn't follow up. Then today I realized I'd never heard if the thing was ordered and the school is closed until 3 January. Shoot. I fired off a few emails and now anxiously awaiting hearing that my precious (and very expensive) machine was ordered. (On a side note, everyone keeps calling it a geranium detector instead of a germanium detector, so my department chair plans to buy the machine a potted geranium as a "welcome to the department" present. I actually caught myself calling it a geranium detector in my recent grant proposal. Good thing I caught that!)
Ok, so back to the liquid nitrogen. There is an add-on to the gamma counter which costs 25k that makes it so you basically only need to add liquid nitrogen every 6 months. Very cool. I don't have money to get it right now, but have it in a grant proposal that is currently in review. It would make my machine much safer. And mean that I don't need to deal with finding money and man-power to keep the liquid nitrogen topped up year round.
On that happy note...
Happy Christmas Eve,
Dr. JZG
In any case, 75% of my start up is for a Geramanium Detector, which is a gamma counter and measures concentrations of short-lived radionuclides, like 137Cs and 210Pb. I plan to use it for sediment budgeting, tracking soil movement, and sediment profiling. It involves no wet chemistry and the only dangerous chemical is liquid nitrogen. So it's really accessible to undergrads. That's really important since I won't have any grad students.
My department recently got a grant to renovate research spaces, so last summer I was working with architects to get the plans for my new lab together. I mentioned the gamma detector at the time, but none of us knew that it required anything special. Then in the fall I decided to actually get a real quote for the thing for myself (rather than use a quote written for a friend). Turns out it needs a 2400 lb lead shield. Small (2x2 ft footprint), but REALLY heavy. That's bad for a 4th floor lab hanging over a big reception room (my lab). I also discovered that (a) my friend's quote didn't include everything you need to run the beast and (b) the price would go up significantly if I ordered in 2011. But, they can deliver at a date specified, so we could just order now and get it delivered next fall. Perfect. I also found out it needs to be fed weekly with liquid nitrogen (didn't see that one coming... more about that later).
So I started working with my department chair and the architects to figure out where it could go in the lab. The answer is "probably nowhere without paying us $4000 to get a special assessment of the hallway". So we found an alternate location - a basement with only 2 steps down. Then we had to get a variety of special things approved - order with a back up location, money for the assessment of the hallway, and other things like that. I got the quote extended to the end of the year and everything else was finally sent to purchasing last Wednesday. Since we were traveling (en route to Beijing), I didn't follow up. Then today I realized I'd never heard if the thing was ordered and the school is closed until 3 January. Shoot. I fired off a few emails and now anxiously awaiting hearing that my precious (and very expensive) machine was ordered. (On a side note, everyone keeps calling it a geranium detector instead of a germanium detector, so my department chair plans to buy the machine a potted geranium as a "welcome to the department" present. I actually caught myself calling it a geranium detector in my recent grant proposal. Good thing I caught that!)
Ok, so back to the liquid nitrogen. There is an add-on to the gamma counter which costs 25k that makes it so you basically only need to add liquid nitrogen every 6 months. Very cool. I don't have money to get it right now, but have it in a grant proposal that is currently in review. It would make my machine much safer. And mean that I don't need to deal with finding money and man-power to keep the liquid nitrogen topped up year round.
On that happy note...
Happy Christmas Eve,
Dr. JZG
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
A new home for the new professor
I'm starting life as a professor in just a few weeks (my leave of absence ends on 1 January) and so I thought that I'd relocate my rants and musings on teaching and research from thirdculturecyclist.blogspot.com over to here. I'm trying to keep this blog (and the other) from being the first thing that pops up on a google search for me, so although I am not trying to be totally anonymous, I will refrain from publishing specific names and places which could be directly linked back to me.
Happy Holidays from Beijing Starbucks,
Dr. JZG
Happy Holidays from Beijing Starbucks,
Dr. JZG
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