Radiocarbon Training


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.

2nd MICADAS user workshop. The 2nd MICADAS user workshop will be hosted by the KCCAMS facility in Irvine, California. It will take place in September 2026. Please register here if you are interested in attending this workshop.

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 was 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. For more information, visit https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/czimczik/radiocarbon-short-course/

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.

    Photo credit: C. Czimczik
  • Participants and instructors of the 2016 Radiocarbon Short Course at UC Irvine.

    Photo credit: C. Czimczik
  • 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.

    Photo credit: C. Czimczik
  • MPI-BGC postdoctoral scholar J. Muhr demonstrates how samples are evacuated for combustion during the 2017 Radiocarbon Short Course at the MPI-BGC.

    Photo credit: C. Czimczik

In Memoriam


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