In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with Professor Luis Colon. Dr. Colon is is the SUNY Distinguished Professor, A. Conger Goodyear Professor, and Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo. He received his bachelors degree from University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, and then received the Ph.D. from UMass Lowell. He also was a postdoctoral fellow in the Zare Group at Stanford where did groundbreaking work in detection for capillary electrophoresis. Colon has won numerous awards, including most recently the Kirkland Award in Chromatography (formerly known as the ACS Award in Chromatography), which we celebrated at the ACS Fall 2025 National Meeting. In a fascinating conversation, we discuss the influence of Luis’ father on his scientific career, by demonstrating to Luis (whether he realized it at the time or not) a physical separation of coffee shells and beans in the wind. Dr. Colon explains the origins of his interest in materials development for chromatography, which included observations he made on the relatively short lifetimes and fragility of silica-based materials while working in industry early in his career. We also spend a good bit of time discussing Prof. Colon’s motivations for an approach to mentoring younger scientists, as well as some of his thoughts about the future of the separation science field. Finally, Luis shares some of his wisdom gained over several decades as a successful and well recognized analytical scientist, emphasizing the importance of curiosity, collaboration, and open-mindedness.

Dr. Wilson is a research chemist and coordinator of the Cannabis Research Program in the Chemical Sciences Division at the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Greensboro College followed by a M.S. degree in Chemistry from the same institution. He then moved south to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Central Florida, training in the lab of Prof. Andres D. Campiglia. In a wide-ranging conversation, we discuss the influence of 2000’s television shows such as CSI on Brent’s interest in forensic science and analytical chemistry, and how an informal interview at a poster session ultimately led to the position he now holds at NIST. Dr. Wilson shares how he navigated the educational landscapes in forensic science and chemistry, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. We discuss the evolution of cannabis standards and analytical characterization in recent years, and Brent shares his perspective on the importance of standards in general, the birth of a reference material, and the significant effort it takes to bring these materials to the point where analytical scientists like us can purchase them. Dr. Wilson also describes some of his work on low-temperature emission spectroscopy techniques, where molecule exhibit much narrower and specific emission bands compared to room temperature detection. Brent also shares more about the life of a scientist within NIST, from day-to-day activities, competing for federal funding, and more. Finally, Dr. Wilson shares some professional advice, including the importance of being prepared and adaptable, the value of talking with people at conferences, and the importance of establishing and maintaining relationships over the course of one's career.

Here in Episode #39, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Macarena Garcia Marin, who is an astrophysicist and instrument scientist for the European Space Agency based at the Space Telescope and Science Institute in Baltimore, MD USA. She will be discussing the highlights of the role of the James Webb Space Telescope, also known as JWST, and its abilities and discoveries using the science of spectroscopy in space, since performing spectroscopic research since its launch in 2021. We have invited Macarena to our Analytically Speaking podcast to discuss the current discoveries using JWST and what the future hopes are for a deeper understanding of the amazing universe that surrounds our home, planet Earth.

Here in Episode #37, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Austin Daniels, application scientist for Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies. This Episode will focus on flow imaging microscopy (FIM), a new technology for subvisible particle characterization in biologics. We have invited Austin to our Analytically Speaking podcast to discuss the current trends and state of using FIM to ensure the quality and safety of biologics. This requires precise monitoring of subvisible particles, which can impact drug efficacy and patient health. Traditional analysis methods, such as light obscuration (LO) and membrane microscopy (MM), provide limited data on particle types and morphology, making it difficult to pinpoint contamination sources.

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with Dr. Alix Rodowa, Research Chemist within the Organic Chemical Metrology Group at the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. At NIST, she is the Environmental Sector Task Lead for the Organic Analysis Working Group for the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance: Metrology in Chemistry and Biology (or CCQM). After discussing some of the events that sparked Dr. Rodowa’s interest in science, and analytical chemistry in particular, we discuss her path to a career as a NIST scientist, including cold-emailing potential research advisors, and an experience as a National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral fellow. We then discuss her work on polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including the development of the PFAS Interference List - affectionately known as the “PIL” - and the development of a Standard Reference Material (SRM) for that research area. We also touch on emerging uses of machine learning in workflows for analytical target and suspect screening. Finally, Alix provides some insight into a day in the life of a NIST scientist, why she enjoys working in a government laboratory, and how aspiring scientists can explore this environment as a potential career option.

Here in Episode #35, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Ellen V. Miseo, who has been active in vibrational spectroscopy and instrument development her entire career and is formally trained as a physical chemist. She has worked for instrument companies as well as run laboratory operations. She is past president of both the Coblentz Society and Society for Applied Spectroscopy and currently heads Miseo Consulting. We have invited Ellen to our Analytically Speaking podcast to discuss the current activities of SAS and Coblentz to foster further education in the essential aspects of spectroscopy for current and future practitioners.

Perrault Uptmor of William & Mary, and Dr. Emanuela Gionfriddo of SUNY at Buffalo. Kate and Emanuela are both returning guests of the pod (see episodes 2 and 14), and joined us on-site at the Boston Convention Center to reflect on what we saw and heard at Pittcon 2025. In a wide-ranging conversation, we touch on a variety of aspects of the Pittcon experience, including networking opportunities, award sessions recognizing both early-career scientists and achievements over lifetimes, and of course trends in various areas as observed from the numerous technical sessions and talks. Several notable award sessions honoring great work in separation science included: ● ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Young Investigator in Separation Science - awarded to Prof. Xiao Su of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ● Pittcon Analytical Chemistry Award - awarded to Prof. Dan Armstrong of the University of Texas at Arlington ● LCGC Emerging Leader Award - awarded to Prof. Katelynn Perrault Uptmor of William & Mary ● LCGC Lifetime Achievement Award - awarded to Christopher Pohl of CAP Chromatography and Consulting ● Chromatography Forum of the Delaware Valley Dal Nogare Award - awarded to Terry Berger Some of the trends discussed during the episode include developments in the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence tools in our field, multi-dimensional separations, green chemistry, and more!

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with Dr. Benjamin Garcia. Dr. Garcia is the Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics in the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests primarily focus on the development of mass spectrometry-based proteomic approaches for the analysis of post-translational modifications of proteins (PTMs) and modified proteomes. His group specializes in high-throughput and quantitative analysis of many classes of modified proteins, especially epigenetic histone PTMs. He is a prolific author and scientific leader, with an h-index approaching 120. He has received a LOT of awards to date, but we sat down with him at the Eastern Analytical Symposium where he was recognized for his recent EAS Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry. In the conversation we talk about the origins of Dr. Garcia’s interests in analytical science, mass spectrometry, and biomedical research, and he shares his thoughts about the current state and near future for technologies used for biomolecule separations including peptides, proteins, and oligonucleotides. We also discuss Dr. Garcia’s highly impactful efforts to promote participation in the analytical sciences by people from all backgrounds, and he shares some thoughts about the “to-do list” for his upcoming term as chair of the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry.

Here in Episode #33, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Brian G. Rohrback, President of Infometrix, Inc. in Bothell, WA, USA—who has been active in chemometrics research and creating software for complex calibrations and multivariate data analysis since 1983. Infometrix was founded by researchers Bruce Kowalski and Gerry Erickson in 1978. We have invited Brian to our Analytically Speaking podcast to discuss his research and experience in automating the process of building multivariate calibrations.

Here in Episode #31, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Barry M. Wise, Founder and President of Eigenvector Research, Inc. about the meaning of the terms chemometrics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and neural networks (NNs) within the context of analytical chemistry and process analysis.

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with Dr. Farooq Wahab, Research Engineering Scientist at the University of Texas at Arlington. Wahab has interests and expertise in chiral separations, improving the green-ness of chromatographic separations, new detectors for chromatography such as microwave rotational spectroscopy, and new techniques for signal processing in chromatography, among other areas. He and several coauthors recently published a paper in Analytical Chemistry discussing their experiences using generative artificial intelligence (i.e. chatGPT) as a research assistant when working on tasks in measurement science ranging from extraction of rotational microwave spectra from free induction decay signals, to baseline removal from chromatographic data. In the conversation we talk about the origins of this study, strengths and weaknesses of chatGPT as a research assistant in the analytical chemistry space, and the role of generative AI in chemistry teaching and learning. We also touch on tips and tricks also published by Wahab and coworkers for dealing with equations and symbol-heavy text when using generative AI tools. One very interesting application of these tricks is in the translation of relatively old (decades) papers that were published before English became the standard language for much of science publication.

Here in Episode #29, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Thomas Mayerhöfer from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology in Jena, Germany, about quantitative spectroscopy and wave optics in infrared spectroscopy, including the theory, simulation, and modeling aspects.

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with Dr. Molly Atkinson, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX, and her graduate student David Hamilton. Atkinson and Hamilton are experts in Chemistry Education Research (CER), and they recently published a paper discussing results of a survey of bachelors-level chemists working in industry that asked them “What does industry want new chemists to know?”. The paper, published earlier this year in the Journal of Chemical Education, generated quite a lot of buzz on analytical chemistry social media. In the conversation we talk about highlights from the article, and touch on potential future work that could fill in knowledge gaps identified by the first survey. The survey revealed some trends that will be familiar to readers of LCGC Magazine. For example, the surveyed chemists indicated that liquid and gas chromatography are two of the top five most important instrumental techniques that new chemists entering industry should know how to use. On the other hand, the survey also revealed some surprising results - for example, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was not in the top-five instrumental techniques, despite that NMR occupies a prominent position in most undergraduate chemistry curricula in the United States. Finally, the guests and co-hosts discuss a bit about how Chemistry Education Research “works”, for listeners who are less familiar with this discipline than other more traditional research areas.

Here in Episode #27, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Richard Crocombe of Crocombe Spectroscopic Consulting, about the world of ever shrinking spectrometers. We explore the technologies and applications for such portable and wearable systems and the future of spectroscopy in our everyday lives.

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias discuss highlights and observations from the recently completed HPLC2024 that was held in Denver, Colorado in July. The “HPLC Meeting”, as the conference is affectionately known by regular attendees, is widely regarded as the premier venue to discuss the latest advances in liquid chromatography research and applications, and is well attended by influencers in the community from both academic and industrial research laboratories. This year’s meeting was no exception, with fantastic talks and posters presented by scientists from around the world. In the conversation, we discuss some of the major themes and trends we observed at the meeting, including the proliferation of research around therapeutic oligonucleotides, and the increasing emphasis on the “green-ness” of analytical science in general, and liquid phase separations in particular. We also highlight the recipients of several awards presented at the meeting, and the value of attending the meeting, especially for students and other young scientists. Upcoming instances of the HPLC Meeting will be held in Dalian, China (2024), Bruges, Belgium (2025), and Indianapolis in the U.S. (2026).

Here in Episode 25, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Brian C. Smith about the challenges of training scientists to interpret infrared spectra and how to leverage that expertise into building a specialized instrument for analysis of Cannabis.

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with Dr. Andre de Villiers, Professor of Chemistry at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Dr. de Villiers is an expert in multi-dimensional chromatography and leads a research program mainly focused on the use of two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometric detection for the deep characterization of natural products such as tea, wine, wood, and cocoa. Some of his recent work has explored the potential for ion mobility separations to increase the utility of mass spectrometric detection coupled with two-dimensional liquid chromatography separations. In the conversation, we talk about the development of Andre’s interest in separation science as a result of a chance meeting with Pat Sandra, and the increasingly apparent “perception problem” facing the field of analytical chemistry. Finally, Dr. de Villiers shares his views on some of the most pressing challenges he sees in the work he is doing right now, including the need for better methods to separate complex mixtures of tannins in natural products, and the need for better data analysis tools in multi-dimensional separations in general.

Welcome to “Analytically Speaking,” the podcast from LCGC International and Spectroscopy. Here in Episode #23, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Art Springsteen and Dr. David Wyble about the challenges of creating color standards and making color measurements using optical spectroscopy.

In this episode, podcast host Dr. Dwight Stoll talks with Dr. Katelynn Perrault Uptmor, Dr. Pierre-Hugues Stefanuto, and Dr. Petr Vozka about the multidimensional chromatography workshop, better known as the MDCW for short. Kate, PH, Petr, and Dwight are co-organizers of the MDCW workshop, which was held most recently at California State University, Los Angeles. In their conversation they discuss how the MDCW is different from, and similar to, conventional scientific conferences. They reflect on the most recent (15th) meeting, including highlights from both the technical and social programs, and in the impact on the local student community at Cal State LA. Then, they switch gears and look forward to the 16th MDCW, which will be held February 3-5 at the University of Liege, in Liege, Belgium.

Here in Episode 21, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Art Springsteen about the history and challenges associated with reflection and color standards used around the world for optical spectroscopy.