The Water Sciences Laboratory resumed operations in May. The staff are available between the hours of 8:30 am and 5:30 pm. Building is unlocked during modified COVID-19 related operations as per the University guidelines.
Arrangements to pick up sample containers or delivery of samples must be made in advance by email sbiswas8@unl.edu or dsnow1@unl.edu.
The Water Sciences Laboratory’s mission is to provide technology, expertise, services, and training in advanced analytical science supporting today’s water and natural resources students, researchers, and stakeholders. The Lab is part of the Nebraska Water Center.
By: Jesse Starita
Author’s Note: This article is an excerpt from the Summer 2020 Nebraska Water Current, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Water Sciences Laboratory.
READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER (PDF)
At its purest form, water is two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen. But water craves other...
Several years ago, the City of Hastings tapped the University of Nebraska’s Water Sciences Lab (WSL) to help better understand the quantity and movement of growing concentrations of nitrate and other agrichemicals stored underground near the city’s wells. Specifically, the city wanted the lab’s...
Chemists in lab coats. Computerized modeling. Test strips detecting minute quantities of contaminants. These are all a part of daily life at the Water Sciences Laboratory, part of the Nebraska Water Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Water Sciences Lab technicians process and analyze...
Client Portal
The Nebraska Water Sciences Laboratory Client Services portal is for current and potential clients of the lab, a current user of the laboratory facilities or those seeking information about lab training. If you are not a current user of the lab, and would like to learn more, please contact us.
Our Laboratory
The lab is located on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus. The facility opened in the summer of 1990 to provide a convenient working environment for collaborative research on water-related projects. The lab is run by a technically skilled staff who together perform 140 analytical methods on $3 million worth of equipment for a spectrum of clients.
Training New Scientists
The lab has become an incubator for young water scientists, training 25 students in 2018 alone. Learn more
Developing Methods
The lab staff are able to perform 140 analytical methods on $3 million worth of equipment for a spectrum of clients.
Supporting Water Research
WSL analytical services support university research projects with funding from various agencies.
In 2017 and 2018, Chris Olson, the program’s manager, drove 17,000 miles to meet with students and teachers in 10 Nebraska towns to help them understand and participate in the science of groundwater and drinking water. Follow the know your well project on Facebook and Twitter.
In 2017 and 2018, Chris Olson, the program’s manager, drove 17,000 miles to meet with students and teachers in 10 Nebraska towns to help them understand and participate in the science of groundwater and drinking water. Follow the know your well project on Facebook and Twitter.
Evapotranspiration, or ET, is loss of water through evaporation from the earth's surface, including open water and plant surfaces, and plant transpiration, or how a plant grows by passing water from its roots up through its stem and leaves to the atmosphere (Source: Derrel Martin, UNL Biological Systems Engineering. Watershed Water Balance: The Role of ET and Consumptive Use.)
