Bowling Green State University purchases mass spectrometer thanks to USDA grant
The $482,000 grant purchased the instrument that will help measure water quality and assist scientists to make improvements to area agriculture.
Bowling Green State University is the new home to a mass spectrometer, an instrument that will analyze data about watersheds, thanks to a $482,000 grant from the USDA. A team of scientists at the university led by Dr. Joe Furgal will study environmental issues that are impacting watersheds in the Great Lakes Region. The new mass spectrometer will allow for more accurate data analysis in a much quicker turnaround: hours instead of weeks.
According to an article on Bowling Green State University’s website, Dr. Furgal explained what a mass spectrometer can do for research. He was quoted as saying, “One of the big issues with a lot of research is that you’re looking for things that are microscopic or in very, very low quantities. In order to analyze things in small quantities without this instrument, we have to concentrate everything and hope for the best. That means we’re manipulating the samples quite a bit so we can study them. If you can test the samples directly, and at the concentrations at which they appear in the wild, you can really see how much of each element is there and what their components are without manipulating anything — and that’s what this instrument allows us to do.”
Dr. Furgal is an associate professor of photochemical sciences at Bowling Green State University. He studies PFAS chemicals which are toxic to humans and are often found in water supplies. The mass spectrometer will allow him to analyze his collected samples more quickly and more accurately.
He is investigating the grant along with fellow faculty members Dr. Pavel Anzenbacher, Dr. Kevin McCluney, Dr. James Metcalf, Dr. Alexis Ostrowski, Dr. Angelica Vazquez-Ortega, and Dr. Christopher Ward, several of whom belong to the Great Lakes and Watershed research group.
Dr. Metcalf commented on the acquisition of the mass spectrometer and explained how it will benefit the research the team is conducting, along with other future research projects. Dr. Metcalf said, “This is a game-changer for our analytical capabilities, and it shows the confidence that the USDA has in the research here at BGSU. The fact that we have this instrument here means that research and teaching opportunities will accelerate for graduate students and faculty alike.”
He went on to say that not only will researchers benefit from the instrument’s presence on campus, but students will, as well, by being able to put theoretical knowledge into practice on the spectrometer. “Most students in Ohio likely will not get access to equipment like this. This gives them the ability to get exposed to cutting-edge equipment that’s really incredible, gives them an idea what modern science is really all about and helps them get better employment and better graduate opportunities,” he said.
Dr. Furgal is looking forward to the research and the good that will come from it. He said, “We have a lot to protect in Lake Erie, so we can learn the point sources for various contaminants that are entering the lake, how they’re leaching into or above the soil and going into different streams and rivers, which can allow you to then develop mitigation strategies. But you have to know what’s going on before you can take care of it. This instrument helps us understand those complexities.”
For more information about Bowling Green State University, visit the school’s website.