I enjoyed the Oct 26th colloquium presentation by Dr. Erik Krogh. I did not expect to enjoyed it, due to it very technical title and not having a very good idea of what a mass spectrometer was, however I found Dr. Krogh to be an excellent presenter and very good at explaining the basics of his field to lay-people.

The technological advances his team are carrying out are pretty impressive. To me, the potential for real-time spatially explicit air quality metrics is an intriguing idea. It is the size of a van, but it definitely makes me think of a star trek tricorder. I imagine that it won’t be very long until we all have a mass spectrometer app on our phones and this democratic use of chemical analysis technology could have game-changing effect on how, where and what people pollute. The current tragedy of the commons status quo for air pollution could change quite rapidly if it were accessible to everyone. It would make polluting and also workplace chemical use much more challenging and litigious.

One question I would have asked, but did not, is related to a smell I have experienced in the down town industrial area of Prince George east of Queensway. There is often a smell similar to felt marker that has really made me wonder about my health. I would like to know what that chemical or group of chemicals was and what the source of it was and also the health implications of breathing it in.

One aspect of Dr. Krogh’s research that I could possibly incorporate into my own, would be geospatial visualization. I really enjoyed the way his team kept the machine running as they were driving and were able to detect pulp trucks driving by in their data.

I thought that Dr. Krogh did an exceptional job in answering questions from the audience. While I did get lost during the presentation when he talked of the chemical processes going on, I was impressed by his ability to explain the material clearly while still keeping it exciting for the chemical nerds in the room.