Administration - History
The origins of the Shared Analytical Services Laboratory date back to June, 1971, at the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado. Dr. Willard Chappell (then a member of the CU Boulder faculty) received a $225,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a multi-disciplinary research project on molybdenum in the environment. Dr. Robert Meglen, an analytical chemist from CU Boulder, was hired to setup and run an analytical laboratory to support the project. The new laboratory was housed in the Geology Department at the Boulder Campus.
In the mid-1970s, the lab moved to the Chemistry Department at the Boulder Campus, and in 1979, it moved to the Denver Campus, and was housed in the Center for Environmental Sciences (CES). From 1971 through 1988, the lab was involved with several multi-disciplinary projects including studies on molybdenum, oil shale, selenium, uranium tailing, acid deposition, and lead toxicity in mining communities. During the oil shale work from 1976 to 1982 the laboratory had as many as 4 technicians, analyzing a wide variety of samples, working under Dr. Meglen. In the period 1979 to 1982, over 40,000 determinations were performed under grants from the National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, United States Bureau of Mines, and Department of Energy.
In 1989, the focus of the lab shifted from research to supporting educational activities. The focus of the lab became providing analytical support for graduate and undergraduate students as well as faculty research. The lab was closely associated with, and focused towards, supporting the Masters of Sciences in Environmental Sciences (MSES) program.
In 2002, the Center for Environmental Sciences was dissolved and the lab formally became a freestanding unit called the Shared Analytical Services Laboratory. Since that time, the direction and focus of the Laboratory have gone through several changes. Under Dean Howard the SASL is once again focusing on supporting faculty research in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, in addition to its educational activities.