Alissa’s Top 5
Hi! I’m Alissa Aron, I’ll be a senior this coming year, and I’m
conducting my thesis research in the White Lab. This summer I’m
working in the lab to lay the groundwork for my thesis research, which
will be looking at the structure and sources of organic matter in
aerosol and rainwater. For now I’m just sampling from the roof of
Sharpless Hall, but will be collecting samples from more exciting
places soon (suggestions are always appreciated!).
Alissa’s White Lab Top 5:
1. Collecting samples from the roof
2. Field trip to collect oil-contaminated sediment for Ori’s project
3. The intensely air-conditioned climate of the INSC
4. Working out the kinks involved in extracting organic matter from
quartz filters
5. Becoming an expert on the always expanding body of aerosol literature
July 16th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Greetings, Alissa. I was a chem major at HC, class of 1960. Went on to a PhD at Cornell (biogenesis of p-benzoquinone insect defensive secretions), taught organic and biochem at Carleton and Earlham, was VP of the Great Lakes Colleges Assoc, worked for two years in university relations at ERDA/US Dept of Energy, and spent my last twenty years of employment at the American Chemical Society in DC, most of that time as head of The Petroleum Research Fund, funding faculty research at colleges and uinversities.
In retirement, we enjoy our “simple four bathroom cottage” on Farilee Creek, and are near the Chesapeake Bay, near Chestertown, MD. I conduct some simple analyses of the slightly-brackish creek water. We have a 100′ pier, and it would be a good site to collect rain water from a non-urban location. Also, we have a very deep loose sediment under our pier (very dark, soft – we needed 30′ pilings to support the pier). This sediment seems not to have been disturbed, so the layers might say useful things about changes in the organic matter over time.
In retirement, I’m on the board of three national Quaker organizations in the Phila area, and make frequent trips to Phila, so I might be able to deliver samples, if that could assist your research. We could also provide a bed if you wished to take any samples in this area. We have a river and streams draining agricultural areas, plus the (slightly salt) Ches Bay available (and I have several boats).
Joe Rogers