August 7, 2023
Topics include:
-Sample submission process changes
-New hires!
-New equipment
-Carbonates
-ISOBANK
November 8, 2022
Topics include:
-Holiday mail delivery schedule and recommendations
-Personnel changes
-New order management system (PPMS)
-New rates
-Instrumentation updates
November 1, 2021
Topics include:
-Holiday mail delivery schedule and recommendations
-Staffing changes
-New website
-Instrumentation updates
June 18, 2021
Topics include:
-Open and Returning to "Normal"
-Price Changes Beginning in July
-Updated Payment Process
-Biogenic Carbonates
November 23, 2020
Topics include:
-Limited Mail Delivery through December 2020. Plan to review and ship samples November 30–December 18.
-Limited Invoice Availability through December. Request your quotes and invoices before December 18.
-New Year! New Look for 2021!
October 25, 2020
New Credit Card Payment System
Beginning October 26, 2020, in a continued effort to improve our credit card security and payment process, the SIF Analysis Payment Site is now hosted by the UC Davis Cashier and Payment Solutions Office.
The SIF Analysis Payment Site is designed for SIF customers to pay invoices by credit card. For now, the old payment link on the invoice will redirect you to the new payment site. In addition to our normal payment instructions, new invoices will soon have a QR code and embedded link for ease of payment by credit card. Please do not enter payment if you do not have an open invoice; payment without invoice information may be declined or mis-applied to the wrong account.
If you have any questions, please email sif@ucdavis.edu or call and leave a voicemail at 530-752-8100. (During COVID-19, email is preferred due to reduced in-lab staffing.)
May 11, 2020
The SIF resumes limited operations after a 7 week closure.
The SIF faculty and staff have been busy implementing procedures for returning to operations, addressing safety and conduct protocols with respect to COVID-19. Thanks to the hard work of our team, our Phase 1 return to work plan has been approved. What does this mean for our SIF clients?
- The SIF will ramp up instruments beginning this week.
- No client samples will be analyzed until the instruments are operational within our QA/QC specifications.
- The SIF lab spaces will be minimally staffed to optimize physical distancing. The lab is closed to visitors.
- Any work that can be done from home will continue to be teleworked by the SIF staff. Email is still the best way to contact us.
- Staff-intensive services, including nitrate and carbonate sample preparation, will not be conducted until the UC Davis campus fully re-opens (tentative reopening date is June 1, 2020 pending local directives).
The SIF will begin accepting shipments following this protocol:
- Completed Analysis Order Form and Sample Lists must be emailed to sif@ucdavis.edu before packaging samples.
- Do not ship samples until you have a confirmation from a SIF staff or faculty.
- Perishable shipments must be shipped in an insulated cooler, with sufficient coolant and cushioning, and shipped expedited on a Monday or Tuesday to minimize delays with receipt and refrigeration.
- Ship samples with tracking (e.x. FedEx, UPS, or standard post with tracking) because sample delivery may still experience delays. The UC Davis Campus is still closed, so SIF staff have to pick up standard post from Mail Services.
- UC Davis researchers can make an appointment to drop-off samples by emailing sif@ucdavis.edu.
We thank you for your continued patience and flexibility with the turnaround time. We empathize that many of you will experience hardships with project and funding deadlines during this interim period, but we must handle requests as equitably as possible.
- Our priority is to schedule the samples that were in-house prior to the shutdown.
- We expect throughput and demand to be dynamic in the coming weeks and months. Please plan for variance in our turnaround times.
- The Analysis Order Form has a new “deadline” section at the bottom of the form. Reasonable requests will be considered when the samples are scheduled for analysis, but we cannot make any guarantees during this unsettled time.
Operational status may change at any time. We will email an announcement if there are any further changes.
All of the SIF thank you for your continued support!
May 1, 2020
The SIF remains closed until further notice.
The SIF is working on a COVID SOP for returning to work, and our department is reviewing measures to resume research. For now, the UC Davis campus remains closed, Yolo County extended their shelter-in-place thru May 31, 2020, and California's shelter in place is open ended. We'll send an announcement when we resume analytical operations - if you are not yet receiving our newsletter announcements, please see the April 3 post below for instructions on how to subscribe.
Please contact us at sif@ucdavis.edu if you need to discuss project timelines, or have questions about sample preparation and storage.
If you have expiring funding, or are missing an invoice for data that you've already received, please e-mail us at sifaccounting@ucdavis.edu.
We wish you all good heath!
April 3, 2020
The SIF remains closed until further notice.
If you are not yet receiving email notices from the SIF, subscribe to our newsletter!
Using the e-mail you wish to subscribe, send a blank email to sympa@ucdavis.edu.
In the subject line of your message, type in: subscribe sif_announcement Firstname Surname (inserting your own first name and surname).
Leave the message body blank, no signature blocks.
You will receive a confirmation email when you have sucessfully subscribed.
Sympa is a mailing list management robot, not a person. If you are having difficulty subscribing, or would like to send us a message, e-mail us at sif@ucdavis.edu.
Stay safe! Take care!
March 18, 2020
SIF Status: Shutting Down Analytical Operations and Discontinue Shipment Receiving
Following the Yolo and Sacramento county directives for shelter in place, the UC Davis Stable Isotope Facility is suspending all analytical operations through April 1, 2020. We will continue to monitor and adjust our operational timeline to follow campus policy.
Campus mail delivery status is unknown, but expected to change quickly. If you are preparing a shipment, please do not send samples at this time. If you have already shipped perishable samples, and the tracking status is enroute, please provide us with the tracking information so we can try to receive the shipment. Any standard post received while UC Davis Mail Division is still open, will be delivered when the campus re-opens.
Many of our staff and faculty will continue to work from home, and your primary contacts are available to discuss data and project planning.
Any samples that have been analyzed will be reported as the data is processed, and invoiced per our normal process.
For any questions or concerns, we are still available to answer questions by e-mail:
Joy Matthews, SIF Director: jamatthews@ucdavis.edu
Chris Yarnes: ctyarnes@ucdavis.edu
Richard Doucett: rrdoucett@ucdavis.edu
Emily Schick – SIF general questions: sif@ucdavis.edu
Emily Schick – SIF Accounting questions: sifaccounting@ucdavis.edu
We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we work through rapidly changing status.
Please take care, and we look forward to supporting your research when operations resume at the SIF!
March 12, 2020
SIF Statement on COVID-19
The UC Davis Stable Isotope Facility is closely monitoring the current reports from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and University of California Office of the President regarding COVID-19.
The SIF is currently open, receiving shipments, and processing samples. Our mail delivery is subject to the status of the UC Campus, UC Davis Supply Chain Management - Mail Services, and the individual mail carriers (including FedEx, UPS, DHL, USPS). As always, our goal is to safely maintain operations, while being conscientious of the health and well-being of our personnel and their families.
The SIF will continue to do our best to be flexible with our client’s needs regarding data and funding deadlines. Equally, we ask for your flexibility and patience as we operate during this unprecedented and evolving event.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email sif@ucdavis.edu or call us at 530-752-8100.
Additional UC Davis Coronavirus Resources:
https://www.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/
https://research.ucdavis.edu/research-continuity-planning-for-covid-19