Welcome to the Rock and Sample Processing Laboratory at Montana State University's, Department of Earth Sciences. Traphagen 001 and 002 provide sample processing tools and equipment for MSU students and faculty. Training is required to use all equipment. Please contact lab manager Katherine Kovich to schedule instrument training at kovich.kat@gmail.com. Contracting work can also be serviced to lab manager Katherine Kovich, please contact her for arrangements. The use of these facilities requires payment from the user this information is noted below. Please contact Madison Myers at madison.myers@montana.edu  for questions concerning payment. To start the payment process, please email Dr. Myers the answers to these two questions: How much you should be invoiced for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, based on the rubric below, and Who is using the space in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, and do they need training? (Email/Name).

Payment plan for using the basement (based on usage per year) 

•              Contract Work $25/hour

•              REU Program $300 

•              Class Project $150 

•              Frequent student (grad or undergrad) user $150 

•              Infrequent student user $50 

•              PI User (free if paying for graduate students, otherwise) $50 

 

Frequent user - 5+ rocks processed over the course of 3+ days. 

Infrequent user - <5 rocks processed in a given year, several days of use but not approaching a week

 

 

Facilities and Equipment:

 

Training is required to use all laboratory equipment. If you wish to use laboratory equipment, please contact our lab manager Katherine Kovich at kovich.kat@gmail.com to schedule training. Katherine is also available for any questions regarding issues with machines or any general questions users may have.