MICADAS User Workshops
MICADAS user workshops are an opportunity for the rapidly growing global community of MICADAS users to discuss and develop best practices for the operation of MICADAS and its peripherals and to share experiences in optimizing MICADAS performance.
We are pleased to invite you to the 2nd MICADAS (MIni CArbon DAting System) Users’ Workshop, co-organized by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI). The workshopwill be held on the UCI campus on September 9–10, 2026.
About the Workshop – This workshop is designed to deepen participants’ understanding of the MICADASspectrometer and its peripherals, going beyond manufacturers’ manuals and standard online resources. It is open to the broader MICADAS community, as well as users of related instruments, including:
EA-GIS, CHS-GIS, or Cracker-GIS;
EA-AGE3; or
EA-IRMS-AGE3
Who Should Attend? Attendance is intended for individuals who currently have a MICADAS or related instrument at their institution, or who are actively planning to acquire one. Attendees will be expected to contribute by sharing best practices, recent advances, successes, and challenges related to their spectrometer and peripherals.
Join the MICADAS Google Group – If you are not yet a member of the MICADASGoogle Group, we encourage you to join by following these three simple steps:
Visit Google Groups: https://groups.google.com/my-groups
Search for “MICADAS“
Click “Ask to Join“
Registration & More Information – For further details and to register for the workshop, please contact: Prof. Claudia Czimczik – czimczik@uci.edu
1st MICADAS user workshop. The 1st MICADAS user workshop took place from September 16-17, 2024 at the NOSAMS facility in Woods Hole, MS, USA. It was organized by radiocarbon scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of California – Irvine, and Yale University.
The workshop was held to discuss (1) best practices, advances, successes, and issues encountered with the MICADAS, (2) solutions and potential approaches to address any common problems, and (3) best communication mechanisms for a MICADAS user group. The meeting format was morning sessions for laboratory presentations/reports. Afternoons were reserved for open discussion, a laboratory tour, and a final session to identify a collective path forward. Morning sessions were available virtually, while afternoon sessions were limited to in-person attendees.
Radiocarbon Short Course
The Radiocarbon Short Course was a 1-week training course for senior undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, and researchers with broad interests in ecology and earth system science who are planning on, or are currently, using radiocarbon techniques as part of their research, and wish to expand their understanding of this tool. The knowledge is available in our book Radiocarbon & Climate Change.
The course used a mixture of lectures, short talks, active learning activities, and networking sessions to facilitate research and interactions. Lectures introduce participants to the use of radiocarbon in carbon cycle, environmental, and ecological research, with examples from marine and terrestrial systems and the atmosphere. Hands-on activities focus on creating a tracer-free lab environment and avoiding contamination in the field and lab, collecting samples in the field, choosing standards and blanks, processing and analyzing samples in the laboratory, and analyzing, reporting, and interpreting radiocarbon data. Poster presentations and social events offer networking opportunities.
The course is offered at the KCCAMS facility or collaborating institutions and taught by KCCAMS researchers and staff and radiocarbon experts from the Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, and GNS Science, New Zealand.
2026 Radiocarbon Short Course
- Jul 13 to 17, 2026
- Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
Past Short Courses
2021. Sep 14, 16, 21. 23, 28 & 30. Live on zoom
2019. Aug 11-16. UC Irvine
2017. Sep. MPI-BGC
2016. Jul 24-29. UC Irvine
2014. Jul 21- 26. UC Irvine
2012. July. MPI-BGC
2011. July. UC Irvine
- KCCAMS scientist X. Xu explains how plant samples are converted to graphite for radiocarbon analysis with accelerator mass spectrometry during the 2019 Radiocarbon Short Course at UC Irvine.
- Participants and instructors of the 2016 Radiocarbon Short Course at UC Irvine.
- Participants and instructors of the 2016 Radiocarbon Short Course at UC Irvine. Photo credit: C. Czimczik
- Guest lecturer H. Graven discusses how 14CO2 can be used to inform carbon emission models during the 2017 Radiocarbon Short Course at the MPI-BGC.
- MPI-BGC postdoctoral scholar J. Muhr demonstrates how samples are evacuated for combustion during the 2017 Radiocarbon Short Course at the MPI-BGC.
Erv Taylor (-2019)
Radiocarbon-Champion, Scientist, Teacher, Colleague, Friend & Instructor of the Radiocarbon Short Course
Prof. emeritus University of California, Riverside, Department of Anthropology
Ph.D. 1970, Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles
Contact
W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Facility
Department of Earth System Science
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-3100, USA
Paleoclimate &
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
J. Southon (jsouthon@uci.edu)
H. Martinez De La Torre (hamartin@uci.edu)
G. Santos (gdossant@uci.edu)
B321 Croul Hall
Phone: +1 949 824-3674
Marine Biogeochemistry
B. Walker (brettw1@uci.edu)
E. Druffel (edruffel@uci.edu)
S. Griffin (sgriffin@uci.edu)
2212 Croul Hall
Phone: +1 949 824-3286
Terrestrial Biogeochemistry &
Aerosol
X. Xu (xxu@uci.edu)
C. Czimczik (czimczik@uci.edu)
G. Santos (gdossant@uci.edu)
2222 & 2313 Croul Hall
Phone: +1 949 824-3444
MICADAS
G. Santos (gdossant@uci.edu)
C. Czimczik (czimczik@uci.edu)
Z. Wang (zichew31@uci.edu)
2313 Croul Hall