The laboratory was funded under a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and the University and Community College System of Nevada to investigate fluid inclusion populations at Yucca Mountain. As part of this project, the laboratory has maintained QA standards established by UCCSN that are certified by OCWRM.
The laboratory is currently being used in a variety of UNLV faculty research, Ph. D. dissertation, and M.S. thesis projects from diverse fields such as geology, biology, physics, and engineering.
The EPMA and SEM have also been used as teaching tools to enhance undergraduate (see Paleontology and Sedimentology) and graduate laboratory experiences.
A number of local businesses have also used the equipment to solve a variety of quality control issues.