In honor of the upcoming Graduate Appreciation Week, the Graduate News Forum will be highlighting the recipients of the 2010 Graduate Alumni Research Awards throughout the week.  Applications for the 2011 Graduate Alumni Research Awards are due on May 5th.

Measuring Osmium Drainage to Understand Rock-Weathering Processes

My research uses radiogenic-isotope geochemistry to understand elemental cycling and rock-weathering processes on the North Island of New Zealand. The two main objectives of my research are to quantify how much osmium (element number 76) is draining from the island and identify what the isotopic composition of the waters are, and to explore the osmium isotope system as a proxy for rock-weathering processes. Different rock types release different amounts and varying isotopic compositions of osmium into water, and therefore this isotope system may provide quantitative insights into weathering processes in New Zealand and around the world. The Graduate Alumni Research Award helped me to meet these objectives by providing funding for my trip to New Zealand this past summer to collect water samples.

Learn more about the Graduate Alumni Research Awards here.

By Timothy Blazina