Breadcrumb
Laboratory for AMS Radiocarbon Preparation and Research (NSRL)
Breadcrumb
NSRL works in collaboration with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurement facilities to provide state-of-the-art radiocarbon preparation and measurement services to the local University and Federal research communities. The lab also pursues in-house research on applications of 14C dating to climate change studies, calibration of the 14C timescale, and the use of 14C as a geochemical and geophysical tracer in the Earth system.
Scott Lehman
Director
Chad Wolak
Lab Manager
Patrick Cappa
Research staff
Steve Morgan
Research staff
- Colin Lindsay, Postdoctoral Investigator, 2016-2018
- Nicole Trahan, Postdoctoral Investigator 2012-2014
- John Knowles, Guest Investigator 2012-2015
- Sean Bryan, GRA 2010-2014
- Jocelyn Turnbull, GRA, PRA 1997-2006; now at National Isotope Center, New Zealand
- Trevor Popp, PRA, now at Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark
Contact & Services
Lab phone: 303 492-0362
Please contact Chad Wolak, Laboratory Manager, 303 492-5019 regarding routine sample submissions.
Chad Wolak packs radiocarbon samples. Photo by Ethan Welty.
Collaboration
NSRL maintains an active collaboration with the NOAA’s Boulder-based Global Monitoring Division (GMD) aimed at development and use of ultra-precise 14C measurement in CO2 as a quantitative tracer for recently-added, fossil fuel derived CO2 in the atmosphere.
Media stories
- Lawns and landscaping complicate taking the measure of Los Angeles Basin’s carbon footprint (2020)
- Tracking fossil fuel emissions with carbon-14 (2020)
- One fifth of Los Angeles’s CO2 rises from lawns and golf courses (2018)
- Ozone treaty taking a bite out of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (2017)
- The climate lab that sits empty (2017)
- Humans, not climate change, wiped out Australian megafauna (2017)
Overview video (2.5 min)
For an overview of the lab, watch the first 2.5 minutes of this video. This overview is part of a tour of two INSTAAR labs. The second part of the video gives an overview of the Stable Isotope Lab.
Publications
Publications by Lehman are included below.
ATMOSPHERIC RADIOCARBON FOR THE PERIOD 1950-2019
Hua Q; Turnbull JC; Santos GM; Rakowski AZ; Ancapichun S; De Pol-Holz R; Hammer S; Lehman SJ; Levin I; Miller JB...
- Hua Q
- Turnbull JC
- Santos GM
- Rakowski AZ
- Ancapichun S
- De Pol-Holz R
- Hammer S
- Lehman SJ
- Levin I
- Miller JB
Publication Date: 2021-11-23
Type: Journal Article
Large and seasonally varying biospheric CO2 fluxes in the Los Angeles megacity revealed by atmospheric radiocarbon
Publication Date: 2020-10-27
Type: Journal Article
Observations of atmospheric (CO2)-C-14 at Anmyeondo GAW station, South Korea: implications for fossil fuel CO2 and emission ratios
Lee H; Dlugokencky EJ; Turnbull JC; Lee S; Lehman SJ; Miller JB; Petron G; Lim J-S; Lee G-W; Lee S-S...
- Lee H
- Dlugokencky EJ
- Turnbull JC
- Lee S
- Lehman SJ
- Miller JB
- Petron G
- Lim J-S
- Lee G-W
- Lee S-S
Publication Date: 2020-10-26
Type: Journal Article
Estimating US fossil fuel CO2 emissions from measurements of C-14 in atmospheric CO2
Publication Date: 2020-06-16
Type: Journal Article
The Dating of a Middle Paleolithic Blade Industry in Southern Russia and Its Relationship to the Initial Upper Paleolithic
Hoffecker JF; Holliday VT; Nehoroshev P; Vishnyatsky L; Otcherednoy A; Salnaya N; Goldberg P; Southon J; Lehman SJ; Capp...
- Hoffecker JF
- Holliday VT
- Nehoroshev P
- Vishnyatsky L
- Otcherednoy A
- Salnaya N
- Goldberg P
- Southon J
- Lehman SJ
- Cappa PJ
Type: Journal Article
Atmospheric observation-based estimation of fossil fuel CO2 emissions from regions of central and southern California
Publication Date: 2019-05-10
Type: Journal Article
Rapidly receding Arctic Canada glaciers revealing landscapes continuously ice-covered for more than 40,000 years
Publication Date: 2019-01-25
Type: Journal Article
Synthesis of Urban CO2 Emission Estimates from Multiple Methods from the Indianapolis Flux Project (INFLUX)
Turnbull JC; Karion A; Davis KJ; Lauvaux T; Miles NL; Richardson SJ; Sweeney C; McKain K; Lehman SJ; Gurney KR...
- Turnbull JC
- Karion A
- Davis KJ
- Lauvaux T
- Miles NL
- Richardson SJ
- Sweeney C
- McKain K
- Lehman SJ
- Gurney KR
Publication Date: 2019-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Assessing fossil fuel CO2 emissions in California using atmospheric observations and models
Graven H; Fischer ML; Lueker T; Jeong S; Guilderson TP; Keeling RF; Bambha R; Brophy K; Callahan W; Cui X...
- Graven H
- Fischer ML
- Lueker T
- Jeong S
- Guilderson TP
- Keeling RF
- Bambha R
- Brophy K
- Callahan W
- Cui X
Publication Date: 2018-06-01
Type: Journal Article
Limited contribution of ancient methane to surface waters of the U.S. Beaufort Sea shelf
Sparrow KJ; Kessler JD; Southon JR; Garcia-Tigreros F; Schreiner KM; Ruppel CD; Miller JB; Lehman SJ; Xu X...
- Sparrow KJ
- Kessler JD
- Southon JR
- Garcia-Tigreros F
- Schreiner KM
- Ruppel CD
- Miller JB
- Lehman SJ
- Xu X
Publication Date: 2018-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Considerable contribution of the Montreal Protocol to declining greenhouse gas emissions from the United States
Hu L; Montzka SA; Lehman SJ; Godwin DS; Miller BR; Andrews AE; Thoning K; Miller JB; Sweeney C; Siso C...
- Hu L
- Montzka SA
- Lehman SJ
- Godwin DS
- Miller BR
- Andrews AE
- Thoning K
- Miller JB
- Sweeney C
- Siso C
Publication Date: 2017-08-16
Type: Journal Article
COMPATIBILITY OF ATMOSPHERIC (CO2)-C-14 MEASUREMENTS: COMPARING THE HEIDELBERG LOW-LEVEL COUNTING FACILITY TO INTERNATIONAL ACCELERATOR MASS SPECTROMETRY (AMS) LABORATORIES
Hammer S; Friedrich R; Kromer B; Cherkinsky A; Lehman SJ; Meijer HAJ; Nakamura T; Palonen V; Reimer RW; Smith AM...
- Hammer S
- Friedrich R
- Kromer B
- Cherkinsky A
- Lehman SJ
- Meijer HAJ
- Nakamura T
- Palonen V
- Reimer RW
- Smith AM
Publication Date: 2017-06-01
Type: Journal Article
John Trevor Hollin 1930-2016
Publication Date: 2017-05-01
Type: Journal Article
Humans rather than climate the primary cause of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in Australia
Publication Date: 2017-01-20
Type: Journal Article
Episodic Neoglacial snowline descent and glacier expansion on Svalbard reconstructed from the C-14 ages of ice-entombed plants
Publication Date: 2017-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Atmospheric monitoring of carbon capture and storage leakage using radiocarbon
Publication Date: 2017-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Strong regional atmospheric C-14 signature of respired CO2 observed from a tall tower over the midwestern United States
LaFranchi BW; McFarlane KJ; Miller JB; Lehman SJ; Phillips CL; Andrews AE; Tans PP; Chen H; Liu Z; Turnbull JC...
- LaFranchi BW
- McFarlane KJ
- Miller JB
- Lehman SJ
- Phillips CL
- Andrews AE
- Tans PP
- Chen H
- Liu Z
- Turnbull JC
Publication Date: 2016-08-01
Type: Journal Article
New constraints on deglacial marine radiocarbon anomalies from a depth transect near Baja California
Publication Date: 2016-08-01
Type: Journal Article
The surface expression of radiocarbon anomalies near Baja California during deglaciation (vol 422, pg 67, 2015)
Publication Date: 2016-05-15
Type: Journal Article
Continued emissions of carbon tetrachloride from the United States nearly two decades after its phaseout for dispersive uses
Hu L; Montzka SA; Miller BR; Andrews AE; Miller JB; Lehman SJ; Sweeney C; Miller SM; Thoning K; Siso C...
- Hu L
- Montzka SA
- Miller BR
- Andrews AE
- Miller JB
- Lehman SJ
- Sweeney C
- Miller SM
- Thoning K
- Siso C
Publication Date: 2016-03-15
Type: Journal Article
Separation of biospheric and fossil fuel fluxes of CO<sub>2</sub> by atmospheric inversion of CO<sub>2</sub> and <sup>14</sup>CO<sub>2</sub> measurements: Observation System Simulations
Publication Date: 2016-01-21
Type: Journal Article
Human predation contributed to the extinction of the Australian megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni similar to 47 ka
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Radiocarbon evidence for a possible abyssal front near 3.1 km in the glacial equatorial Pacific Ocean
Publication Date: 2015-09-01
Type: Journal Article
The surface expression of radiocarbon anomalies near Baja California during deglaciation
Publication Date: 2015-07-15
Type: Journal Article
Observations of (CO2)-C-14 in ecosystem respiration from a temperate deciduous forest in Northern Wisconsin
Publication Date: 2015-04-01
Type: Journal Article