The University of Waterloo-Environmental Isotope Laboratory (uwEILAB) develops and applies isotope technology to the Environment. The uwEILAB resources are used primarily in the fields of Earth Sciences and Biology. Many other environmental applications are available.
Founded in 1971 by Dr. Peter Fritz, uwEILAB is today a modern research facility with an international client base encompassing universities, government agencies, consulting firms and other mainstream institutions.
Richard Heemskerk – uwEILAB’s Manager - has been involved in all phases of the lab's steady growth since 1982. With the experienced technical and scientific team developed by the previous lab Manager Robert Drimmie, the uwEILAB continues to work on research into new systems design, automation of routine procedures, refinement of field sampling techniques and the ongoing training of graduate students and research fellows. uwEILAB has a staff of 12 technicians most of whom have been with the Lab for more than 15 years.
The UW- EIL is at the fore-front of developing isotopic techniques for research applications, a role that far outstrips that of a routine facility. New frontiers are developing rapidly in the isotope field and access to new techniques is critical to maintaining our position as world class researchers in environmental isotopes. The development of these techniques is time consuming and labour intensive. Individual researchers or even a small group of researchers could only afford to develop some of these capabilities in a very narrow area of application. However, collaboration of uwEILAB with UW faculty allows for this success. The uwEILAB is the only major isotope facility in Canada with this concentration of faculty with substantial isotope research interests.
The uwEILAB is promoted through participation in conferences, workshops and publication of papers by the UW group and papers published by clients that report isotope data produced at the Lab. uwEILAB staff have operated exhibit booths at scientific meetings to meet new clients and maintain relationships with existing clients for the last eight years.
The Lab can analyze isotopes of hydrogen (2H, 3H), carbon (13C, 14C), nitrogen (15N), oxygen (18O), sulphur (34S), chlorine (37Cl) and bromine (81Br) in almost any compound in which they occur. These analyses provide what is called an "isotopic fingerprint." Soluble compounds in groundwater, such as nitrate, sulfate, chloride, bromide and dissolved inorganic carbon, are imprinted with an isotopic composition (a "fingerprint") that is related to the sources and processes that affect these compounds in groundwater. Thus isotopic analysis provides information about the origin and fate of these compounds in groundwater.
The uwEILAB actual and future capabilities are intimately linked to the research activities carried out by professors at the Department of Earth Sciences. This Department was the home of the worldwide recognized Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research, one of the two Centers of Excellence that became part of the new Centre for Research on Earth and Space Technology.
The core of professors that apply and develop new applications of isotope techniques include Dr. Ramon Aravena, Dr. Tom Edwards, Dr. Shaun Frape and Dr. Sherry Schiff. These projects continue with the active participation of– uwEILAB manager Richard Heemskerk, B.Sc.
Main research areas include:
- Groundwater Flow Dynamics
- Deep Groundwater Flow Systems
- Groundwater Geochemistry
- Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions
- Evaluation of Aquitards
- Organic Contaminants in Groundwater
- Nitrogen Cycle in Groundwater
- Forested Watersheds and Wetlands
- Paleoclimate and Paleohydrology
- Biological Applications