Speaker: Dr. Ramon Barnes
When: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Venue: Ockinga Conference Center, UNK Campus

Environmental forensics is a new subject area relating to courtroom or litigation proceedings and the fact basis for mediated or negotiated transactions involving environmental matters. Environmental forensic investigations often deal with historical release of contaminants and attempt to establish who caused the contamination, when and how the contamination occurred, how extensive the contamination was, what levels of contamination exposure existed, and how valid the test results were. Plasma spectrochemical analysis has been applied to a large variety of environmental and forensic materials to identify and quantify their elemental concentrations, isotopic compositions, and metal compound forms. Specifically, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission (ICP-AES) and mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) provide powerful elemental analysis tools for air monitoring, biota analysis, soil and sediment analysis, radionuclide determinations, and water and ecological monitoring. The features of plasma spectrochemistry will be described, and ICP analyses of environmental and forensic materials will be reviewed with emphasis on chemometric data interpretation for source identification. The unique applications of laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS) for microsamples and especially crime scene samples will be demonstrated. Elemental speciation with combined separation and ICP-MS tools also will be introduced.

For questions and RSVP (by November 4), contact:

Mike Mosher, mosherm@unk.edu (308) 865-8385 or

Scott Darveau, darveausa@unk.edu (308) 865-8491.

Coagulation of milk, removal of whey, and ripening are all required when making cheese, and chemistry is involved every step of the way. This non-technical talk describes the procedure from raw milk to final product, and illustrates the differences between cheese types, including the development of the many flavors in cheese.

Venue: 152 Lied Math and Science Building, Doane College

Time: 5:45 pm refreshments, 6:00 pm talk

This interactive workshop will ask important questions such as: Are you a Driver, an Expressive, an Amiable or an Analytical? What behavior style do you prefer? Do you tend to be more people or task oriented? More tell or ask assertive? What do you do when backed into a corner? While there’s no right or wrong to these questions, in today’s team based work environment, if you know how you come across and can assess how others prefer to interact, you and the team have a higher chance of achieving your goals. Find out about yourself and how to maximize your interactions with others to help ensure personal and project success!

Venue: Student Union, Hastings College

When: April 15th (Wednesday), 6:30pm dinner, 7:00pm talk

Speaker: Dr. Lisa Balbes (founder of Balbes Consultants)

A chemistry background prepares you for much more than just a laboratory career. The broad science education, analytical thinking, research methods, and other skills learned are of value to a wide variety of types of employers, and essential for a plethora of types of positions. By understanding your own personal values and interests, you can make informed decisions about what career paths to explore, and identify positions that match your needs. This talk will discuss a variety of nontraditional careers for chemists, such as chemical information, patent work, technical writing, education, human resources, sales and marketing, and much more. We will discuss typical tasks, education or training requirements, and personal characteristics that make for a successful career in each field, illustrated with specific examples. Valuable tips and advice about planning career transitions will also be provided.