The ECL, which occupies approximately 1000 square feet on the 3rd floor of the Geography-Geology Building, includes a state-of-the-art paeloenvironmental laboratory dedicated to the study of lake sediment. The paleolimnology laboratory contains: a Sartorius microbalance; a muffle furnace for Loss-On-Ignition analysis; a large drying oven; a Mettler analytic balance; a cold storage cabinet for sediment core archiving; a full suite of glassware and chemicals, and a pollen-ready fume hood. In addition, four Zeiss DV4 Stereomicroscopes are available for chironomid sorting and a Zeiss Axioskop 2 Plus Microscope with digital camera and imaging software is available for fossil specimen identification. We also have access to a Costech Elemental Analyzer for total carbon and total nitrogen analyses and a Finnigan MAT Delta Plus XL Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer for measuring stable isotopes of C and N; these instruments are housed at the Center for Applied Isotope Studies (CAIS) at UGA. A reference collection consisting of fossil chironomid remains from the western United States and Arctic Canada and Russia is housed in the lab. A full suite of field equipment is also available, including a YSI handheld dissolved oxygen/ conductivity/salinity/temperature meter, pH meters, inflatable boats, coring platforms and coring equipment (Livingstone and a DeGrand maxi-corer).
