No, literally.

“When we’re out on the road, there are far too many other influences – we hardly ever see ourselves.”

Prior to Dr. Krogh’s presentation, the knowledge I had of mass spectrometry was limited to its use in tv crime dramas. Much of the information presented about the mechanisms of this field, at the nexus of analytical, physical, and environmental chemistry, were new and fascinating information to me. It is especially interesting to me that the data produced through this method can be used to produce KML map files.

The data produced through mobile mass spectrometry could be applied as a measure of localized disturbance to estimate areas potentially avoided by disturbance-sensitive species. Though there is not yet nearly enough data available for this application, it could be considered for human footprint mapping in the near future.

This talk could have been very difficult to understand had the presenter not been so skilled in communicating the underlying science of his research. Though some chemistry jargon still slipped through – as I think was only more noticeable and not more prevalent in this presentation – the time Dr. Krogh spent explaining his methods, and his enthusiasm in doing so, lent much-needed energy and interest to a subject I otherwise would have found to be less than accessible.

Dr. Krogh spent a warranted amount of time discussing the limits of mobile mass spectrometry, and made a point to say it is a good complement to lab-based techniques, and not a replacement for them. It was instructional to witness a researcher discuss the boundaries of his research and acknowledge its place in the overall field – something I think is lacking in some research talks.

Many excellent questions were raised at the end of this talk, especially as they relate to the use of sensitive instrumentation in a mobile setting. Dr. Krogh exhibited a full understanding of the instrumentation and a well-considered set of research practices which account for  possible detractions from the accuracy of the data.