KATHARINE HUNTINGTON, née RUHL

Associate Professor, Department of Earth & Space Sciences, University of Washington

Endowed Professor for the College of the Environment in Earth Systems

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Hello.

Meet our team.

Facilities

PrepLab, Polly, and the

Series of Tubes

Overview

Huntington group facilities include thermochronometry sample prep lab, IsoLab stable isotope facility and clumped isotope geochemistry lab, cathodoluminescence microscopy lab, CAMSIZER particle size analyzer, and sample drill.

Lab Safety

**All people working in JHN 318 must complete JHN 318 Safety Training online here.**

UW Lab Safety Manual

SOPs: heavy liquid mineral separation, flammable solvents, inorganic acid use, LST, MEI

Links: UW EH&S, MyChem, your training record, training courses, IsoLab website

MSDS/SDS: Access safety data sheets for all lab chemicals via MyChem using MSDS Search or by clicking on My Inventory --> Rm 318 --> the chemical name.

Safety training checklist for lab personnel to download and complete: [form]

PPE: personal protective equipment assessment to download and complete: [form]

Questions for EH&S? Contact Hal Merril or John Kushleica

Planning to work in IsoLab? Contact Andy Schauer to set up IsoLab safety training.

In the event of a lab accident, incident or near miss, proper reporting must follow: [Instructions]



Sample/Thermochron Prep Lab (JHN 318)

The preplab (JHN 318) contains space for meeting, sample preparation, heavy liquids mineral separations for geochronology and thermochronology, grainsize analyzer, micromill, field equipment, including fume hood and sink with sediment trap.

download mica prep info

download sample info sheet for ASU Ar-Ar lab


The Clumped Isotope facilities include a glass vacuum line for manual carbonate digestion and cryogenic purification of CO2 and other uses (the "Series of Tubes"); a fully automated nickel and stainless steel line equipped with pneumatic valves, common acid bath, and interchangeable trap for CO2 purification for clumped isotope thermometry (image: top left); Thermo MAT 253 isotopologue mass spectrometer (“Polly”) equipped with 10-port tube cracker for automatic sample introduction (image: bottom left); and other equipment including muffle furnace, refrigerators, temperature-controlled baths, freeze drier, fume hoods etc.


We welcome visitors and collaborators. Depending on the timing, subject and and scope of your project, we may host you in the lab to visit and perform analyses yourself, or work with you to design the analysis strategy, analyze the samples for you, and be involved with discussing and interpreting the data. Either way we would discuss the plan, details of the data, and interpretation at length. We are not able to accommodate “contract” work (i.e., analyze samples without knowing what they are or taking part in the interpretation) because the method is so time consuming, and it is new enough that issues of standardization and calibration are rapidly evolving and important to work out with an expert on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Kate to discuss your project!


Cathodoluminescence (CL) Microscopy Lab

The CL Microscopy lab houses a cold-cathode cathodoluminescence microscope with a computer-controlled digital camera system. These items were funded by the Earth and Space Science department, ConocoPhillips, and the University of Washington Student Technology Fund.

The vacuum chamber and electron beam controller are produced by Relion industries. The system is equipped with a new Nikon Optiphot-2 Trinocular microscope for infinity SLWD reflected and transmitted polarized light and cathodoluminescence. Digital micrographs are captured with an Olympus UC-50 digital camera.

Camsizer - rapid particle size and shape analysis

The CamSizer by Retsch Technology rapidly collects particle size and shape data for dry particles from 30 microns to 30 mm in diameter. The instrument is available at no charge for UW community members and their collaborators. If you would like to use the instrument, please contact Kate Huntington. You will need to go through a tutorial, sign up for time on the calendar in the lab, and record your work each time you use the instrument in the lab notebook. In return for instrument use, you must be willing to share what you learn and train others in its use.

IsoLab - Clumped Isotope Lab (JHN 303)

IsoLab is a shared laboratory facility with PIs in the Departments of Earth and Space Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences and Biology, the best lab manager on the planet, and users in diverse fields across the UW campus and world. Huntington's clumped isotope instrumentation is housed in IsoLab. Visit the IsoLab website: http://isolab.ess.washington.edu/, including links to analytical price list, info on other instruments, and more!