Analyzing Mercury Isotopes: A SciX Interview with Frank Vanhaecke, Part 2

This year’s SciX Conference is nearly upon us. Taking place next week in Raleigh, North Carolina, the SciX Conference will bring together suppliers, industry professionals, researchers, graduate students, and others in the industry for a week-long event that will allow them to collaborate and connect with colleagues in the field (1).

As part of the conference program, numerous award winners will be recognized for their contributions in the field of analytical spectroscopy. One of those awardees is Frank Vanhaecke, who was awarded the 2023 Theophilius Redwood Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (2).

Prof. Vanhaecke currently works as a researcher at Ghent University in Belgium. As the leader of the Atomic & Mass Spectrometry Research Group, he and his group are conducting research in isotopic analysis of mercury by developing new methods for analyzing mercury in solid samples without the need for prior treatment (2). In a recent study, they took multi-collector inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) and combined it with a mercury combustion analyzer (2). In the first part of our conversation with Vanhaecke, he delved into aspects of this study, discussing its overall importance to the field as well as the recent developments in the biomedical field (3).

Vanhaecke has an extensive bibliography. He has either authored or co-authored about 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals (2). According to Web of Science, his research papers have accumulated over 18,000 citations (2). As a result of his work, Vanhaecke has received multiple awards throughout his career, including the European Plasma Spectrochemistry Award (2011), the Fellow of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (2013), and the Lester Strock Award (2017) (2,3).

At SciX 2024, Vanhaecke will deliver a plenary lecture and chair a symposium. His lecture will discuss elemental mapping using laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) (2).

• What does winning the Royal Society of Chemistry Theophilus Redwood Prize mean for you personally and for your research?
• How has your educational background influenced your research pursuits in your career?
• What are you looking forward to most about the SciX Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina?

To view the rest of our coverage of the upcoming SciX 2024 Conference, click here: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/conferences/scix

References

1. FACSS, FACSS Presents SciX 2024. SciX Conference. Available at: https://scixconference.org/ (accessed 2024-10-11).
2. Chasse, J. A Combustion-Based Sample Introduction System for Direct Isotopic Analysis of Mercury in Solid Samples via Multi-Collector ICP-Mass Spectrometry: An Interview with Theophilus Redwood Prize Winner Frank Vanhaecke. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/a-combustion-based-sample-introduction-system-for-direct-isotopic-analysis-of-mercury-in-solid-samples-via-multi-collector-icp-mass-spectrometry-an-interview-with-theophilus-redwood-prize-winner-frank-vanhaecke (accessed 2024-10-02).
3. Wetzel, W. Analyzing Mercury Isotopes: A SciX Interview with Frank Vanhaecke, Part 1. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/analyzing-mercury-isotopes-a-scix-interview-with-frank-vanhaecke-part-1 (accessed 2024-10-16).