I visited Concordia University this week to get some more information about my teaching duties starting January 3rd. Things are working out well on the administrative side – I signed my contracts and all there is left is my application for a new work permit. Teaching dates and rooms are set and I have a good idea who to ask, if I do not know, how to proceed.I will be teaching approx. 120 students in 2 parallel courses, so will be imperative for me to design exams and assignments that can be corrected within the required time; that is not the way I like it (I like to design my questions in way that I get a feel for how much students know and those are not always easy and quick to correct, depending on the topic). But there is nothing I can do.The topics of the courses are well laid out and I got an excellent briefing from my predecessor, who will be teaching other courses next winter term. He also provided a lot of material for me to get started quickly. Concordia uses Moodle as a teaching tool, so let’s see how I will be able to use it.The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, everybody is really helpful. People take time to listen to my questions (also in the administration!) – I think I am going to like it at Concordia, even if it is only for 4 months for the time being.
Author: greg
Atmospheric chemistry researcher and university teacher. Data analysis/chemometrics specialist (PCA, PCR, Cluster analysis, SOM)
More Canisters!
Things are still going well and I have run a full set of my 11 canisters. The system is working well and I have done a little bit of fine tuninig in order to maximise the sensitivity for the compounds that I am interested in. These compounds, which correspond to my compounds detected in the snow samples (determined with SPME) are rather heavy (C2-C8).
I have, therefore, removed the water trap (cooled by dry ice) on the preconcentration system to avoid trapping my analytes there (this is less of a problem with more volatile compounds). I am using an HP-5 column, which is not sensitive to water as the previously used PLOT column for light hydrocarbons (which I would like to determine at a later date). I also heat out the liquid nitrogen trap under vacuum before proceeding to the next sample in order to avoid residues being stuck in the trap. Blank runs show that this is working well.
I also use 30% more sample for analysis than the people ususally using the system, because my peaks are quite small. The additional amount of sample and resulting increased sensitivity are much more reliable with an improved signal-to-noise ratio.
Canisters!
I started measurements of air samples, which I had collected in electropolished canisters at Alert. I use a home-built preconcentration system based on freezing out analytes with liquid nitrogen traps. Compounds are collected by freezing and flashheating the traps until they are collected on the column of a GC-FID (again using a cryofocuser) and separated.
A colleague gave me a crash course on how to use the system, which is a bit fragile (with regard to leaks), but has been working well so far. After familiarizing myself with the system, I ran standards in the last couple of days and I am now ready to tackle the canisters.
Hosted a seminar today ….
… my first one in the department and it was fun. Not that it is difficult, but it was a nice experience to get in touch with the speaker and facilitate the session. I will be on again in two weeks – more practice 😉 but getting a little more insight and getting to know the people and what they are doing is good.
The speaker was excellent – talking about gas hydrates buried in the sediments of the oceans (e.g. off Vancouver Island). As I am no expert in the field I appreciated the clarity of the talk and the illustrations to explain rather complex processes and procedures. It is not often that a speaker adapts so well to the level of knowledge of his/her audience. The lively discussion that was going on already during the talk was a good indicator of its quality.
Link: USGS
I will be teaching again!
During my vacation I have learned that I will be teaching again, this time at Concordia University in the Chemistry Department. The course, CHEM-218 deals mainly with the following topics: precipitation equilibria and titrations; electrochemistry; redox equilibria and titrations; potentiometry; molecular and atomic absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy.It is definitely going to be fun and I am looking forward to it – a new university and a new environment for me to get acquainted with and new experiences to make.
Last week …
… was extremely enjoyable, because I was on vacation in Churchill, MB – watching polar bears, checking out the boreal forest and the tundra. I also visited the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. People there were extremely friendly and helpful and I was given an extended tour of the research station and the possibilities they offer. It is run as a facility that provides logistical support (food, lodging, transportation), local advice (sampling locations, terrain, flora & fauna) to researchers, who typically arrive with their projects. Some tasks can also be performed by the centre (sampling,…).
The place is very interesting and attractive with regard to equipment, rates, accessibility,… although, personally, I am a bit concerned about anthropogenic influence (a former rocket range, former military installations, the airport and the town are close-by), when it comes to sampling for VOC in snow and air. It would be necessary to choose sampling spots very carefully. Environment Canada is running a few automated instruments there, including a Tekran Hg Analyzer.
One thing at a time, but still lots of things to do …
There are a couple of things that I currently work on. First there are the measurements of my snow samples collected at Alert with lots of other samples (especially the air canisters) in the queue. The calibration curves for the liquid phase and headspace are ready (18 compounds each) and I have started crunching numbers.
I also write a manuscript on my data from snow samples collected in the winter/spring of 2005, which is quite advanced and on a good track. All the introductory and experimental stuff is written including results and discussion with a few calculations missing. It should be ready soon.
I am working with a student on ice-nucleation and training her on how to use the instrument, prepare solutions,… She is running blanks at the moment and trying to make the instrument behave in a repeatable manner.
I am also closely tracking open positions at Montreal universities, with one application pending for a temporary teaching position (1 course for 1 semester) to add to my teaching experience.
So, what is a CEGEP?
I am checking out open positions and I have recently visited a CEGEP (John Abbott College) to inform myself, about how this system works. It was extremely interesting and I had a lot of questions, which were answered patiently.
CEPGEP (College d’enseignement general et professionnel) is a Quebec speciality and is a mandatory 2-year “college”, before entering university. The curriculum consists of the last year of high-school and the first year of university including several advanced courses recognized at university level, so students with a DEC degree from CEGEP skip the first university year. Attendance is not mandatory and the atmosphere is very university like, although students are younger. There is also a strong carreer advice component. CEGEPs also offer 3-year programmes in engineering and other technical fields and graduates usually start working straight away. CEGEP teachers are eligible for federal and provincial research grants.
The atmosphere was very friendly and open. They do not have a suitable open position for now, but I will keep my eyes peeled.
For more info see: Wikipedia (French)
Being on the department’s seminar committee …
… is a fun thing. In the last 6 weeks we have put together the departmental seminar for the current academic year. One professor and 3 graduate students and a postdoc (me being the latter) solliceted names from department members and hammerd out a schedule for this year. We even got a grant from the postgraduate student society to supplement the meagre budget reserved for speakers.
So now everything is on track and the first speakers are coming in. I will be the contact point for three of them – organising the talk, student-lunch and other meetings with faculty and graduate students/postdocs. It should be fun.
Been to Dresden – Won an Award
I went to Dresden last week (with a short visit to my hometown Vienna as well) to participate in the 35th German Food Chemistry Day, held at the TU Dresden. The main reason, why I was there, was for the award ceremony, because I have received the Bruno-Rossmann Prize from the German Chemical Society/Food Chemistry Section. It was quite a pleasant surprise (I submitted the paperwork ages ago) and a very nice ceremony, if a tad long.
Part of the trip was also a boat tour on the Elbe river including a banquet and I got to see Dresden quite a bit. I have also met a professor, who I collaborated with in the past, who happend to be on sabbatical in Dresden (what a coincidence). We had a really nice chat over some good German beer.
Now it’s back to work – measurements, data analysis,… – and it is fun too.