Activities of the MinnMass Discussion Group include approximately four meetings and a summer picnic each year, a vendor evening or one out-of-town meeting every other year. The meetings typically involve presentations by local or visiting scientists from the Midwest area. In some cases, tours of mass spectrometry facilities are conducted after these presentations. Periodically, guest speakers from other prestigious institutions are invited to give seminars.
Upcoming MinnMass Events:
- MinnMass Spring Meeting 2024, April 4, 6-8:30 PM at Borlaug Hall, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN (Speaker: Prof. Brent Williams, PhD, Dept. of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)
- Abstract: Hundreds of thousands of organic chemicals are found in the vapor and particle phase in indoor and outdoor air. Field-portable mass spectrometers have exponentially increased our understanding of the biogenic and anthropogenic pollutants found in our environment, teaching us about the sources of these chemicals, the atmospheric transformations that occur through photochemical oxidation, the role they play in the earth’s climate system and on human health, and the environmental fate of these chemicals. Here you will learn about a range of mass spectrometry-based instruments that have been developed for field deployment across extreme environments, with online automated sampling, that creates unique design and operational challenges compared to laboratory operation.
- Bio: Brent earned a BS in Physics from St. Cloud State University and a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, & Management from the University of California at Berkeley where he worked to develop the in-situ Thermal desorption Aerosol GC/MS (TAG) for online measurement of atmospheric particulate matter chemical composition. He did a postdoc at the University of Minnesota in Mechanical Engineering and at Aerodyne Research Inc. to where he worked to modify the Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS). He served as a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis for 13 years within the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, focusing on indoor and outdoor air quality, atmospheric oxidation chemistry, and the role of particles in the climate system. At WashU he helped to start the Center for Aerosol Science & Engineering and served as an initial center coordinator. He also helped to start the WashU Climate Change Program and served as the program’s initial director. In the summer of 2023 Brent joined UMN as Head of the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate.
Please RSVP for in-person attendance with the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0E4FA8AF2DA3F49-48313334-minnmass
A Zoom Meeting invite will be sent by email to our members. You can join at: Contact Us – Minnesota Mass Spectrometry Discussion Group (minnmass.org)
Recent Past MinnMass Events:
- MinnMass Winter 2024 Meeting (Speaker Prof. Boone Prentice, University of Florida)
- MinnMass Fall 2023 Meeting (Speaker Dr. Rachel Loeber, Green Thumb Industries)
- MinnMass Summer Picnic 2023, August 28th, Island Lake County Park, Shoreview, MN
- MinnMass Spring 2023 Meeting (Speaker Dr. Varun V. Gadkari, University of Minnesota, Department of Chemistry)
- MinnMass Winter 2022/2023 Meeting (Dr. Alexander Leitner, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology at ETH Zurich)
- MinnMass Summer Picnic 2022
- MinnMass Winter 2021 Meeting (Speakers R. Graham Cooks and Christina R Ferreira from Purdue University)
- MinnMass Winter 2019 Meeting (Speaker Dr. Abraham Badu-Tawiah, Ohio State University)
- MinnMass Summer Picnic 2018
- MinnMass Spring 2018 Meeting (Speaker Dr. Silva Balbo, University of MN)
- MinnMass Winter 2018 Meeting (Speaker Dr. Peter Crawford, University of MN)
- MinnMass Summer Picnic 2017
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