Have you ever wanted to characterize organic matter in your environmental samples, measure dissolved gases or ions, determine the stable isotopic composition of carbon, nitrogen, or water compounds, or measure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)? This course will teach fundamental analytical theory for these state-of-the-art environmental chemistry tools. The format will be one 3-hour block each week made up of lectures to teach theory and time for hands-on use of instruments. Topics will include optical properties, chromatography, and high resolution mass spectrometry. Within these topics, the course will also cover how to properly collect samples for each technique, the proper usage of standards, how to calculate detection limits, accuracy and precision, and state-of-the-art data mining. This course is meant for upper level graduate students and is not offered on the interactive video network (IVN), because of the hands-on nature of the course.
- Course creator: Michael Gonsior
- Teacher: Laura Lapham