the Ries Lab

Marine Science Center

The RiesLab is located at Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center, on the shores of Massachusetts Bay on the picturesque Nahant peninsula (14 miles north of downtown Boston).  The renovated MSC features a state-of-the-art flow through seawater facility, direct access to classic New England rocky shore intertidal study sites, high-resolution analytical instrumentation, an in-house scientific diving program, small-craft research vessels, and an internationally recognized faculty. 

RIESLAB CORE FACILITY

A range of analytical resources (see below) are available to internal and external users on a fee-for-service basis.

 
ANALYTICAL RESOURCES

The RiesLab manages a suite a instruments that are critical for the characterization, analysis, and high-resolution imaging of solid and liquid materials, including a laser ablation inductively couples plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS), scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and electron backscatter diffractometer (EBSD), powder x-ray diffractometer (XRD), petrographic microscope, stereo-microscope with automated z-stage for 3-D imaging, compression test system for biomechanical analyses, ion-specific microelectrode systems, and DIC/alkalinity high-resolution automated titration systems (VINDTA 3C).

LABORATORY RESOURCES

State-of-the-art wet chemistry lab with laminar flow hoods, bench-top hoods, combustion oven, drying oven, underwater pneumatic drills, slab and precision trim saws, computing resources, CO2 gas lines, CO2 gas-analyzers, mass-flow controllers, pH meters, conductivity meters for salinity, carbon coaters for SEM samples

CULTURING FACILITIES

The Northeastern Aquarium Research Center (NU-ARC) is the world’s largest scientific grade flow-through seawater culturing facility that is dedicated to culturing a wide range of marine calcifiers under various chemical, temperature, pCO2, light, and nutrient regimes.