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Big Data GCxGC Analysis and Potential Applications in Forensics

Having recently joined the team at Chemistry Matters Inc., I am excited to have transitioned from academic science to an industry position that has allowed me to apply, on a daily basis, laboratory techniques that I learned and practised during my undergraduate and graduate studies.

River PAHs Characterization Part 3: 2017 – Red Deer Lakes, Sulfur Springs and an abandoned coal mine

This is the third in a series of blogs on river PAHs (Blog 1 and Blog 2 on River PAHs are here). The aim of our investigations is to answer the question “where did the PAHs come from that were present in all of the Alberta and Saskatchewan rivers?”

River PAHs Characterization Part 2: 2016 – Foothills to Prairies

In the first post of this series on River PAHs characterization, we described the background to why we have spent many hours driving across Alberta from border to border to collect sediment samples from the rivers of southern Alberta.

River PAHs Characterization Part 1: An Introduction

For the last few years we have spent a lot of our free time collecting sediment samples from rivers across southern Alberta and characterizing these for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). Often driving many hours across prairie gravel roads for a single good sample, it quickly became a passion of quality...

Biogenic Toluene - Where does it come from?

In the first post of this series, I described the basis for how we became involved in determining a method for the detection of a natural, biogenic source of toluene. In this post, I describe how the process works and provide some thoughts on how to conduct an investigation.

Advice from your chemist - top four things when dealing with your spill into a river

You have had a spill… don’t panic, everything will be fine. Accidents happen. It is what you do next that is important. I have worked on many spills and here are what I believe are four of the most important things from a chemist’s perspective.

Toluene is natural - really?

In 2015, Chemistry Matters Inc. (CMI) provided the scientific support for Nexen at Long Lake during their emulsion release. As part of that role, I pored over data every evening, often long through the night to be able to communicate results to regulators and Nexen management and to put together the next day's...

3 Real-Life Examples of How Chemists Keep the Science 'On the Rails' During an Oil Spill Response

My last blog post on the need for having a trusted chemist on your oil spill response team created a bit of a stir on LinkedIn with everyone insisting they have a more important role or a role that is of higher priority. Thank you all for the comments and the responses, this is what social media is about!

A Chemist Should Be Your First Call When Faced with an Oil Spill Emergency

When they do happen, oil spills can be nasty, and the company responsible will likely enter emergency panic mode as it responds to contain and clean up the oil.

Whether in the Lab or in the Field - It's All About Chemistry

I was recently at a lunch meeting with a client to re-engage me in a historical project that I worked on many years before but had stalled due to lack of funding. We were discussing the project once again, and it was to begin in short order . . . But, even though I stay incredibly busy with my existing workload, I...

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