Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Alaska. New GC-MS Experiments and Experiences for College and Pre-College Students
A two-year project (proposal number 0736946) that is funded by the National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education, Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program (December, 2007).
| PI | John Keller | ffjwk@uaf.edu | 907-474-6042 |
| Co-PI | Todd Gouin | fftg@uaf.edu | 907-474-1966 |
| Senior Personnel | Cathy Cahill | ffcfc@uaf.edu | 907-474-6905 |
| Marina Castillo | ffmrc@uaf.edu | 907-474-7732 | |
| Tom Clausen | fftpc@uaf.edu | 907-474-5512 | |
| Emily Reiter | fnear@uaf.edu | 907-474-6748 |
Abstract
This is a project to enhance teaching -and student learning- of concepts and procedures of environmental chemistry at the pre-college, freshman, and advanced undergraduate levels at UAF. The project will begin with purchase and installation of an Agilent gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS), model 5895C Inert XL with chemical ionization (CI) and electron impact (EI) sources, and a CombiPal sample injector with headspace and SPME (solid-phase microextraction) capabilities. This instrument will significantly enhance the department's analytical capabilities and will enable faculty to offer a variety of new experiments to students at all levels.
Agilent GC-MS instrument. The machine is installed and working - June 2008.
Agilent 5895C Inert XL gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (shown with the standard
autosampler, which will be replaced by the CombiPal sampling robot seen above).
The CombiPal robot can inject liquid samples, vapors arising from the headspace of an enclosed sample, or a fiber with sample molecules adsorbed to it (a solid phase micro-extraction SPME fiber).
Proposed Experiments, Laboratory Courses, and Participating Faculty
Check our progress with each new experiment by clicking on the course entry.
| Course | GC-MS Experiment | Faculty |
| Rural Alaska Honors Institute pre-college chemistry (Chem 165) | Analysis of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Alaska | Marina Castillo, Todd Gouin, and John Keller |
| General chemistry for science majors (Ch 105) | Isotopic analysis of halogenated organics | Emily Reiter and John Keller |
| Organic chemistry laboratory (Chem 324) | Mass spectral analysis of fragrance molecules | John Keller and Tom Clausen |
| Advanced analytical lab (Chem 413) | Equilibrium partitioning of POPs | Todd Gouin |
| Physical chemistry laboratory (Chem 434) | Forensic analysis of fingerprint fatty acids | Catherine Cahill |
Assessment
Cindy Fabbri, 907-474-1558, ffcf@uaf.edu), from the UAF School of Education, is helping design assessment instruments and write assessment reports for the project. Each proposed experiment has a different specific educational goal. The goals and proposed assessment methods are described in the Project Description. Also, each of the linked project pages does, or will, have a section detailing assessment plans or results to date.
| Links to documents | Other links |
|---|---|
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Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP)
Proposal
View/download Agilent brochures (pdf files):
NSF information |
University of Alaska Fairbanks National Science Foundation main page |