During Fall 2018 semester, Melissa took the course, “Instrumental Techniques for the Study of Cultural Heritage.” The course was designed to gain working familiarity to a variety of instrumental analysis techniques including:

• X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF)
• X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS, SED, and BSD)
• Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
• Raman spectroscopy
• Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis)
• Fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS)
• Thin-layer chromatography (TLC)
• Gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography with pyrolysis (py-GC)
• Liquid chromatography (LC)
• Mass spectrometry (MS)
• Photo diode array (PDA)
• Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (MALDI)
• Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS)
• Inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

The course culminated with a research proposal that included a critical literature review. Preliminary research for this proposal began the end of the Fall 2018 semester and will conclude in the spring of 2019. You can read more about Melissa’s research project here.