CAIS-Center for Applied Isotope Studies

Check it out! Yale Climate Connections highlights CAIS scientist Scott Noakes’ research on ocean acidification. https://yaleclimateconnections.org//hurricanes-can-cause-/

Cool new publication in Nature Communications! Carla Hadden & the CAIS radiocarbon lab helped establish the chronology for the first genome-wide study of ancient human DNA from Sudan’s Nile Valley https://rdcu.be/cFYK5

Yale undergrad Sophia DeSchiffart is visiting CAIS this week to learn lab techniques from Alex Cherkinsky. Sophia is studying stable isotopes in animal bones from a Bronze Age archaeological site in Syria for her undergrad thesis.

Yale undergrad Sophia DeSchiffart is visiting CAIS this week to learn lab techniques from Alex Cherkinsky. Sophia is studying stable isotopes in animal bones from a Bronze Age archaeological site in Syria for her undergrad thesis.

Carla Hadden participated in a virtual career day for Ms. Hsu’s first grade class. Y’all check out these thank-you notes PS I never mentioned dinosaurs

CAIS is at the (socially distant) annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology! The heat is out, we are cold, but we are here. Megan Conger is presenting part of her dissertation research titled MacPherson (AhHa-21) and Cleveland (AhHb-7): Two Cases Demonstrating the Benefits and Challenges of Radiocarbon Dating on Sixteenth-Century Iroquoian Sites. Carla Hadden is presenting a summary of a collaborative project titled The Emergence and Evolution of Charleston’s Colonial Economy.

Carla Hadden participated in a virtual career day for Ms. Hsu’s first grade class. Y’all check out these thank-you notes PS I never mentioned dinosaurs

CAIS is hiring a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Radiocarbon Dating group! The incumbent will work closely with clients and collaborators to develop tailored methods and novel approaches in the areas of stable isotope geochemistry, paleodietary studies, radiocarbon dating, and other analytical methods. This is a renewable 12-month term position. https://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/240860

The Center for Applied Isotope Studies will be closed from December 24 to January 3. We will resume regular hours on Tuesday, January 4.

CAIS is at the (socially distant) annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology! The heat is out, we are cold, but we are here. Megan Conger is presenting part of her dissertation research titled MacPherson (AhHa-21) and Cleveland (AhHb-7): Two Cases Demonstrating the Benefits and Challenges of Radiocarbon Dating on Sixteenth-Century Iroquoian Sites. Carla Hadden is presenting a summary of a collaborative project titled The Emergence and Evolution of Charleston’s Colonial Economy.

The Center for Applied Isotope Studies will be closed from December 24 to January 3. We will resume regular hours on Tuesday, January 4.

A new collaborative project between CAIS and the University of Kentucky is underway! This wooden trough is believed to have been made and used by enslaved saltpeter miners working in Mammoth Cave in the early 19th century. CAIS Director Carla Hadden and University of Kentucky Postdoctoral Researcher Katharine Napora are collecting samples from individual tree rings for high-resolution radiocarbon dating. #WomenInSTEM

A new collaborative project between CAIS and the University of Kentucky is underway! This wooden trough is believed to have been made and used by enslaved saltpeter miners working in Mammoth Cave in the early 19th century. CAIS Director Carla Hadden and University of Kentucky Postdoctoral Researcher Katharine Napora are collecting samples from individual tree rings for high-resolution radiocarbon dating. #WomenInSTEM

Hot off the press! New review paper on radiocarbon in marine carbonates. Written by an international, interdisciplinary team that includes CAIS Director Carla Hadden. https://www.cambridge.org//marine_biogenic_carbonates_and_ Paywall gotcha down? DM us for a PDF

CAIS Assistant Director Tom Maddox gazes lovingly at an ion source removed from an isotope ratio mass spectrometer for cleaning.

Hot off the press! New review paper on radiocarbon in marine carbonates. Written by an international, interdisciplinary team that includes CAIS Director Carla Hadden. https://www.cambridge.org//marine_biogenic_carbonates_and_ Paywall gotcha down? DM us for a PDF

Student Outreach! One of the goals of the Center for Applied Isotope Studies is its dedication to multidisciplinary student outreach and research. In this photo we have undergraduate students from course CRSS/WASR 4600L/6600L: Environmental Sampling, taught by Aaron Thompson and Todd Rasmussen, at our Laboratory of Environmental Analysis: Whitehall location. Here Research Technician Marianne Happek is demonstrating preparation of soil analysis for lead. Students from multiple backgrounds (L-R: Braxton Griffin - Environmental Resource Science, Kai Sanders - Agriscience and Environmental Systems, Trent Sutton - Environmental Resource Science) are given the opportunity to observe and tour the facility to learn more about lab procedures and field applications.

Something iSPOOKtopical happened at the Center today!

CAIS Assistant Director Tom Maddox gazes lovingly at an ion source removed from an isotope ratio mass spectrometer for cleaning.

Hello from SHA in Boston!

Student Outreach! One of the goals of the Center for Applied Isotope Studies is its dedication to multidisciplinary student outreach and research. In this photo we have undergraduate students from course CRSS/WASR 4600L/6600L: Environmental Sampling, taught by Aaron Thompson and Todd Rasmussen, at our Laboratory of Environmental Analysis: Whitehall location. Here Research Technician Marianne Happek is demonstrating preparation of soil analysis for lead. Students from multiple backgrounds (L-R: Braxton Griffin - Environmental Resource Science, Kai Sanders - Agriscience and Environmental Systems, Trent Sutton - Environmental Resource Science) are given the opportunity to observe and tour the facility to learn more about lab procedures and field applications.

If you've worked with us in the past year or so, would you mind letting us know how we are doing? Please take a minute to fill out our client satisfaction survey: https://cais.uga.edu/about/customer-satisfaction-survey/

Something iSPOOKtopical happened at the Center today!

Hello from SHA in Boston!

Hello from SHA in Boston!

Want to learn how to avoid the most common mistakes in sample selection, reporting, and interpretation of radiocarbon dates? Sign up for this practical primer on radiocarbon dating by CAIS Research Scientist Carla Hadden.

Congratulations, Inspector Gadget aka Samm Holder (aka me) is the winner of the 2nd Annual CAIS Halloween Costume Contest! Thanks to all those who participated and voted. Happy Halloween everyone!

It's that time of year again...Time to vote for your favorite costume for the 2nd Annual CAIS Costume Contest! Follow the link below and vote by 3 pm. The winner will be announced around 4pm. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2KPLDH5

Happy Monday! Today we are sharing a feature of Kyle Meyer, the Master Glass Blower at the Scientific Glass Shop. Kyle takes care of any glass repairs or manufacturing needs for CAIS as well as others on campus. He also teaches a glass blowing class through the Chemistry Department. Great job, Kyle! https://news.uga.edu/research-glass-blowing-video/

CAIS research scientist Doug Dvoracek and geology graduate student Alex Edwards are at the Geology Society of America meetings this week. Check out Alex’s awesome poster and our booth if you’re at the meetings! @ CAIS-Center for Applied Isotope Studies

Undergraduate research spotlight! Nicholas Bentley just earned a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from FSU, and completed an honors thesis studying a sediment core from the Page-Ladson archaeological site. Using stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating, Nicholas determined that thin sand lenses within the core reflect instantaneous depositional events from large storms, possibly hurricanes! This research will help archaeologists gain a better understanding of how people in the past responded to hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Muito obrigada and parabèns to Kita Macario, Carla Carvahlo, and the team at LAC-UFF for a fun and successful first ever Latin American Radiocarbon Conference in Niteroi, Brasil. See you in Mexico City in 2022!

Hello All! Hopefully everyone’s summer is shaping up nicely, we have an update from the Scientific Glass Shop at UGA! Kyle Meyer, our Master Glass Blower, taught at the American Scientific Glassblower Society (ASGS) International Symposium 2019 in Corning, NY this June. In these pictures he demonstrates the production of two different glass apparatuses used in laboratories. The first image is a 500 mL solvent flask and the last three are of a 500 mL jacketed flask. Great work!

Congratulations Tom Maddox of our Stable Isotope Ecology Lab on his paper in Nature! https://go.nature.com/2XkU1ra

Student research spotlight! Devin Pettigrew (grad student at U Colorado, Boulder) and Jared Pebworth of the Arkansas Archaeological Survey are conducting an analysis of ancient weaponry from rock overhangs in the Ozarks of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. Excavations under the bluffs have uncovered a large collection that is currently housed at the University of Arkansas Museum in Fayetteville, including bow and arrow fragments, complete and fragmentary atlatls and da...rts, and a sword-form war club. Atlatls are extensions of the arm, with a handle at one end and a hook at the other that engages the end of a light and flexible spear called a dart. In the Ozarks two distinct types of atlatl have found. Under nearby bluffs specimens of a dart point type called Williams were uncovered with remnants of bark bindings. Bark represents a unique strategy for hafting points to darts in North America, where most points were hafted with animal sinew. Samples of these bindings were dated by the Center for Applied Isotope Studies and showed them to be ~2000 years old. The next step is to date the two atlatl types to see which one matches the timing of this point type. Under another bluff, a complete sword-form war club was found. It has a sharpened edge along the blade, grooves at the end of the handle for grip, and a flared out portion between the handle and blade. It is stylistically reminiscent of the Southeastern Ceremonial Mace, a symbolic weapon associated with large mound-building societies. The artifact from the Ozarks seems to be the only complete example of a functional wooden sword from the continental US. A date from the Center of Applied Isotope Studies shows it to be ~600 years old, within the time frame of developing complex societies.

Happy #EarthDay! Climate change is a major issue facing contemporary society. Did you know stable isotope research can contribute to our understanding of long-term climate change? Check out this foundational article on tree cellulose, carbon isotopes, and climate: https://www.nature.com/articles/265133a0.

Good morning! Today we are highlighting the work of Dr. Margaret M. Bender. Dr. Bender, chemistry professor at University of Wisconsin Madison, discovered that C4 plants are isotopically distinct from C3 plants. This discovery is foundational for isotopic studies in many fields today including ecology, archaeology, and biomedicine. Check out her foundational article: https://journals.uair.arizona.edu//ra/article/view/174/179.