Frank Vanhaecke is a professor of analytical chemistry at Ghent University in Belgium. His research encompasses the determination, speciation and isotopic analysis of trace elements using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). He took some time out from the 2013 Goldschmidt conference to talk to Rebecca Brodie.
What inspired you to become a chemist in the first place?
That’s an easy question. When I was in secondary school I knew that I wanted to do something in science. At first I had my mind set on biology. Questions like ‘how do animals and plants defend themselves?’ and ‘why do trees lose their leaves in autumn?’ intrigued me. But I quickly gave up on this idea when I had to do my first dissection – that was the end of biology for me.
To read the full article, please read Chemistry World.