Skip to Main Content
Boston University
  • Bostonia
  • BU Today
  • The Brink
  • University Publications

    • Bostonia
    • BU Today
    • The Brink
  • School & College Publications

    • The Record
Other Publications
BU Today
  • Sections
News, Opinion, Community

Getting between rocks in a small place

Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry facility will boost geoscience at BU

November 28, 2005
  • Brian Fitzgerald
Twitter Facebook
Ethan Baxter (right), a CAS assistant professor of earth sciences, teaches a class at an outcrop of Roxbury puddingstone in Boston's Harris Park. Photo by Arancha Pinan (GRS'06)

The College of Arts and Sciences department of earth sciences was recently awarded a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) facility.

Under the directorship of Ethan Baxter, a CAS assistant professor of earth sciences, the TIMS facility will give the members of the department and other users the capability to measure isotope ratios of elements such as strontium, neodymium, calcium, and lead, with extremely high precision on a wide variety of geological samples.

“One of the main focuses of my work — and the work of the three other principal investigators of the grant — is to push the limits on analyzing very small samples,” Baxter says. “The TIMS facility will give us more precise information on past geologic events.”

Mass spectrometry is a technique for separating ions by their mass-to-charge ratios. It allows the detection of compounds by separating ions by their unique mass. It helps scientists identify compounds by the mass of one or more elements in a compound or determine the isotopic composition of one or more elements in a compound.

According to Baxter, the TIMS facility, which includes a MicroMill sampling device to collect tiny samples, will also benefit a wide spectrum of graduate and undergraduate researchers, at BU and at other institutions. “We have colleagues, in the biology department in particular,” he says, “who have expressed interest in using TIMS instrumentation.”

Mass spectrometry is widely used in biomedical science. In 1994, Catherine Costello research professor of biochemistry and biophysics at MED, established the Mass Spectrometry Resource, one of several spectrometry programs on the Medical Campus now affiliated with the Center for Biomedical Mass Spectrometry.

The new CAS facility will aid geoscience research in igneous and metamorphic petrology, weathering and surface processes, oceanography, and paleoclimate, which are all strengths of the four principal investigators in the earth sciences department: Baxter, Assistant Professor Andrew Kurtz, and Professors Richard Murray and Terry Plank.

Baxter is interested in applications of geochemistry, geochronology, and petrology to understand and quantify the rates and timescales of geological processes affecting the evolution of Earth’s crust and mantle. “I study the rates of mountain-building processes and the reactions that are happening deep in the roots mountain-forming systems,” he says.

The department expects the facility to be operational by next summer and will hire a full-time technician — supported by BU and NSF funds. Those interested should call Baxter at 617-358-2844 or e-mail him at efb@bu.edu.

Explore Related Topics:

  • Awards
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Share this story

Share

Getting between rocks in a small place

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Brian Fitzgerald

    Brian Fitzgerald Profile

Latest from BU Today

  • Education

    What’s Behind the Rise in Violence Against Teachers?

  • Fine Arts

    How I Made This: Jacob Whitchurch (CFA’26)

  • Things-to-do

    To Do Today: Seaport Sweat

  • Film & TV

    Did You Win Free Tickets to See Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning Tonight?

  • COMMENCEMENT 2025

    Experience BU’s 2025 Commencement from a Terrier Point of View

  • Obituaries

    Remembering Leslie Epstein, Pillar of BU’s Creative Writing Program

  • Voices & Opinion

    POV: This Memorial Day, Remember BU’s Fallen Heroes by Visiting the New Online Honor Wall

  • University News

    23 Charles River Campus Faculty Promoted to Full Professor

  • Commencement 2025

    Photos: A Look Back at BU’s Commencement

  • Theatre

    It’s “Prom Season” at Wheelock Family Theatre

  • Things-to-do

    Six Spots to Check Out This Memorial Day in Boston

  • Commencement

    Video: Class of 2025: What We’ll Take with Us as We Begin a New Chapter

  • Health & Medicine

    What Does Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis Mean?

  • Watch Now

    BU’s Class of 2025: What Are Your Plans After Graduating?

  • Fitness

    BU Sports Rehab Therapists on Jayson Tatum’s Achilles Injury and Recovery Ahead

  • Commencement 2025

    Sights and Sounds from Boston University’s Class of 2025 Commencement

  • Commencement 2025

    Video: 2025 Graduate Jayde Best: “I Ended Up Exactly Where I Wanted to Be”

  • Commencement 2025

    “Empathy Is Essential,” BU Commencement Speaker Emily Deschanel Tells 2025 Graduates

  • Voices & Opinion

    I’m a Business Professor Who Asked Dozens of Former Students How They Define Success

  • Commencement 2025

    Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Convocations a Joyous Affair

Section navigation

  • Sections
  • Must Reads
  • Videos
  • Series
  • Close-ups
  • Archives
  • About + Contact
Get Our Email

Explore Our Publications

Bostonia

Boston University’s Alumni Magazine

BU Today

News, Opinion, Community

The Brink

Pioneering Research from Boston University

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Weibo
  • TikTok
© Boston University. All rights reserved. www.bu.edu
© 2025 Trustees of Boston UniversityPrivacy StatementAccessibility
Boston University
Notice of Non-Discrimination: Boston University prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex or gender, age, national origin, ethnicity, shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, military service, marital, parental, veteran status, or any other legally protected status in any and all educational programs or activities operated by Boston University. Retaliation is also prohibited. Please refer questions or concerns about Title IX, discrimination based on any other status protected by law or BU policy, or retaliation to Boston University’s Executive Director of Equal Opportunity/Title IX Coordinator, at titleix@bu.edu or (617) 358-1796. Read Boston University’s full Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Search
Boston University Masterplate
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Getting between rocks in a small place
0
share this