JAAS News

We are delighted to announce Jacob T. Shelley as the recipient of the JAAS Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2021. This Lectureship aims to recognise and support an emerging scientist working in the area of atomic spectrometry in the early stages of their independent career.

Introducing Jacob T. Shelley, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA:

Jacob (Jake) Shelley, Alan Paul Schulz Career Development Professor of Chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Northern Arizona University. He completed his Ph.D. at Indiana University under Gary Hieftje where he studied novel plasma ionization sources for molecular mass spectrometry.  Jake did postdoctoral research with Graham Cooks at Purdue University developing portable mass spectrometers capable of in situ analyses.  After another post-doc at the University of Münster, he became Assistant Professor at Kent State University and later moved to RPI in 2016.

His research interests lie in the development of new hardware and software tools for mass spectrometry, which enable rapid, sensitive detection and identification of analytes in complex matrices.  In addition, his research group uses high-energy plasma-generated species to perform unique gas-phase synthesis.  These research areas converge in studying chemical origins-of-life through the Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education (RARE) Center, where he is the Associate Director.

Jake’s recognitions include a Humboldt Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Bunsen-Kirchoff Award (2017), The Analytical Scientist’s Top 40 Under 40 Power List, Spectroscopy’s 2020 Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy Award, and 2021 EAS Young Investigator Award.  He’s authored 45 journal articles, 4 issued US patents, and given 50+ invited presentations worldwide.

We are delighted to announce George L. Donati as the recipient of the JAAS Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2020. This Lectureship aims to recognise and support an emerging scientist working in the area of atomic spectrometry in the early stages of their independent career.

Introducing George L. Donati, Wake Forest University, USA:

George L. Donati obtained his M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar, Brazil, 2004), and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wake Forest University (WFU, USA, 2010), where he received The American Institute of Chemists’ Outstanding Graduate Student Award. During his postdoctoral fellowship at UFSCar, George contributed to the development of the interference standard method (IFS). He is currently an Associate Research Professor at the Department of Chemistry of Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, NC, where he developed the methods of multi-energy calibration (MEC), multi-isotope calibration (MICal), multispecies calibration (MSC) and multi-flow calibration (MFC), and contributed to developing the standard dilution analysis method (SDA). George has supervised three Ph.D. students and several undergraduate students at WFU. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of the Microchemical Journal, has published more than 80 peer-review papers and 3 book chapters, and has given more than 10 talks in international conferences. His research at WFU focus on the development of portable instrumentation and novel calibration methods for spectrochemical analysis, as well as the use of atomic spectrometry and advanced statistical tools to diagnose and understand diseases.

The 15^th Rio Symposium on Atomic Spectrometry was held between 6-11 October, in Mendoza, Argentina

Our journal, Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry (JAAS) was happy to award four best oral awards at the symposium.

Here are some photographs of the winners, taken with Dr Patricia Smichowski, Dr Erico Flores and Dr Rodolfo Wuilloud.

Monday session:

Winner: Barbora Štádlerová

Institution: Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences / Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract title: “Atomization of bismuthane and sensitive bismuth determination of atomic fluorescence spectrometry”

Tuesday session:

Winner: Mauricio Llaver

Institution: Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Research and Development (QUIANID), ICB-CONICET/UNCUYO, Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract title: “A highly efficient ionic liquid-assisted cloud point extraction technique for preconcentration and speciation analysis of tellurium in environmental samples using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry”

Thursday session:

Winner: Gilberto S. Coelho Junior

Institution: Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil

Abstract title: “Dielectric barrier discharge-assisted determination of methylmercury in atmospheric particulate matter by AAS”

Friday session:

Winner: Wiliam Boschetti

Institution: Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre/RS, Brazil

Abstract title: “Sulfur determination using the SiS molecule via HR-CS GF MAS and direct solid samples analysis: a reliable method for different matrices”

JAAS Deputy Editor Rebecca Brodie (pictured below) attended the symposium and gave a RSC presentation “How to publish with impact”. The presentation was well attended and we hope to be receiving some exciting articles in the future.

We are delighted to announce Marta Costas Rodríguez as the recipient of the JAAS Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2019. This Lectureship aims to recognise and support an emerging

Marta Costas Rodríguez

scientist working in the area of atomic spectrometry in the early stages of their independent career.

Introducing Marta Costas Rodríguez, Ghent University, Belgium:

Marta Costas Rodríguez obtained her PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Vigo (Spain) in 2011, where she was awarded with the Extraordinary Doctorate Award (Sciences scope). Her work focused on the development of analytical methods for elemental analysis by spectrometric techniques. Since 2012, she is a postdoctoral researcher (currently with a postdoctoral fellowship from the Flemish Research Foundation FWO – Flanders) in the ‘Atomic & Mass Spectrometry – A&MS’ research group of Prof. Frank Vanhaecke at Ghent University (Belgium). Her research at UGent is mainly dealing with high-precision isotopic analysis in biomedicine. She has supervised 3 Master and 2 PhD students and is currently guiding another 2 PhD students in this field. She is (co)author of 50 peer-reviewed international papers and 4 book chapters and has given some 50 presentations on conferences. Her current research interests are elemental and isotopic analysis by single- and multi-collector ICP-MS and bioimaging with LA-ICP-MS.