Stable Isotope Laboratory Manager

Office Tel: 508-289-7462
Lab Tel: 508-289-7762
Fax: 508-457-1548
Email: motter@mbl.edu

Ph.D., Geochemistry, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1990
B.A., Geology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California, 1980

Links: Full CV | Stable Isotope Lab

Research Statement

I was introduced to stable isotopes in the mid-1980’s while studying the geochemistry of diamonds at the University of Cape Town.  We combusted diamond fragments using a glass vacuum line and analyzed the resulting CO₂ gas for δ¹³C on a dual-inlet VG 602 mass spectrometer.  In the early 1990’s, I was involved with early efforts at in-situ δ¹³C microanalysis of diamonds using SIMS technology at  the University of Edinburgh.  In the mid-1990’s, I managed the stable isotope division at Geochron Laboratories, a commercial lab in Massachusetts, where we analyzed virtually any material for δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ¹⁸O, δ²H and δ³⁴S.  In the late 1990’s, I did a brief stint at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston analyzing doubly-labeled water (i.e., urine) for δ¹⁸O and δ²H, and also CO₂ in breath for δ¹³C, using a Europa 20-20 continuous-flow system.

In 2000, I accepted my current position here at the MBL Stable Isotope Laboratory where, until recently, we have concentrated on analyzing bulk organics for δ⁵N and δ¹³C using automated Finnigan Delta S and Europa 20-20 systems.  In 2006, we purchased two new GV Instruments Isoprime mass spectrometers and a variety of automated sample preparation/purification units that allow us to analyze a greater variety of ecological sample materials for δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ¹⁸O and δ²H. I now split my time between production work (i.e., running routine analyses) and method development on our new instruments.