Advances in Direct Mass Spectrometry for mobilized Environmental Chemical Analysis

During Dr. Erik Krogh’s presentation, “Advances in Direct Mass Spectrometry for mobilized Environmental Chemical Analysis”, I learned that Direct Mass Spectrometry has many applications from analyzing fatty acids of fish, to analyzing in-situ oil sands samples, to analyzing air quality.

I also learned about Dr. Erik Krogh’s mobile mass spectrometry lab that has resulted from technological advancements. Instead of bringing the sample to the lab he is able to bring the lab to the sample. I think it is amazing the amount of data they are able to collect with the mobile lab, and the targeted geospatial mapping they are able to create is also very neat. I see the many benefits of being able to adapt sampling for rich data. Pockets of bad air quality could easily be missed with sampling techniques where you have a limited number of samples that you can bring back to the lab.

I think the work Dr. Krogh’s is currently doing on chemical fingerprints is fascinating. His lab was able to portion out components from biomass compounds, wood, hydrocarbon, and the pulp mill. I am anxious to hear how his lab’s work on chemical fingerprinting progresses. Chemical fingerprints can potentially find out which specific pollution sources are responsible for contaminants. My thought is that this could have the potential to hold industry responsible for the pollution they are producing.

I really liked the way the presentation was structured. Dr. Krogh started with a description of direct mass spectrometry, why it is important and how it works. Then, he moved into the mobile lab, and its’ benefits and drawbacks. For example, he highlighted the importance of continuous calibration, and that mobile lab results are not as precise as stationary lab results. Dr. Krogh was very engaging. While I haven’t taken Chemistry since the first year of my undergrad, I found the presentation very interesting.

The audience had lots of questions for Dr. Krogh, which I think is evidence that the presentation was captivating and interesting. Dr. Krogh did a good job answering questions, drawing on his experiences with the mobile lab. It was also clear that a lot of thought went into the design of the mobile lab. If I were to ask a question, I would ask about the sampling methods used by the mobile lab. While I definitely see the benefits of adapted sampling, I would ask what justification Dr. Krogh must give to be able to practice adapted sampling rather than random sampling (as is normally enforced in scientific design.