In this episode, podcast host Dr. Dwight Stoll talks with Dr. Richard Henry, an expert in HPLC column technology who has had a long and productive career in the HPLC column business. They discuss Dr. Henry’s early experiences with analytical chemistry and liquid chromatography working for DuPont and Spectra-Physics, and eventually the launch and success of the company he founded in 1985, Keystone Scientific. He shares his perspectives on the evolution of LC column technology since the 1970s, his current interest in HILIC columns and separations, and the interactions between separation science and the chemistry of the environment. Finally, Dr. Henry shares some advice for young scientists, drawing on years of observation and his own experiences with failure and success.

Ep. 10: From the Ground Floor to HILIC – A Life in the HPLC Column Business

In this episode, podcast host Dr. Dwight Stoll talks with Dr. Steven Ray Wilson, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oslo, Norway. Dr. Wilson is an expert in bioanalysis and has developed many innovative approaches for targeted and untargeted analysis of biomolecules, often in complex matrices such as biofluids. Most recently he has worked at the forefront of the rapidly growing field involving the use of organoids to better understand the biochemistry and physiology of organs by directly interrogating them with analytical techniques including separations and mass spectrometry. In the conversation, Dr. Wilson shares his thoughts on a broad range of topics including the opportunities that organoid analysis presents, the potential for organoids to influence environmental chemistry, publishing on pre-print servers, and more.

Ep. 12: Hyphenating Organoids with Chromatography

In this episode, podcast host Dr. Dwight Stoll talks with Dr. Emanuella Gionfriddo, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toledo, Ohio. Dr. Gionfriddo is an expert in bioanalysis and analyte extraction technologies, and works on both the development of new technologies, and the application of those technologies to contemporary analytical challenges. In their conversation, they discuss the origins of Dr. Gionfriddo’s interest in science, and several recent papers, including topics including extraction of neurotoxins from water, markers of hydraulic fracturing activity in wastewater, and development of thin-film extraction for improved performance of DNA amplification assays. Finally, Dr. Gionfriddo shares several pieces of advice for young and aspiring scientists.

Ep. 14: The more diverse is your toolbox, the more analytical problems you can solve

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with Dr. Kevin Schug, Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Texas, Arlington. Dr. Schug is an expert in separations and mass spectrometry, and leads a research program with diverse interests ranging from clinical analysis to environmental analysis. In their conversation, they discuss several of Dr. Schug’s recent research articles focused on the thermodynamics of headspace analysis using ionic liquids as cosolvents, analysis of intact proteins using triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, and the coupling of supercritical fluid extraction with supercritical fluid chromatography. They also discuss several of Kevin’s topic interests, including mentoring the next generation of separation scientists, and the importance of rigorous analytical chemistry in the courtroom. Finally, Dr. Schug shares a few bits of advice, in addition to a plea for academic institutions to reconsider the way they support major research instrumentation.

Ep. 18: Teaching it forward in separation science

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.

Ep. 28: What does industry want new chemists to know?

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.

Ep. 30: The Potential of Generative A.I. as a Research Assistant for Measurement Science

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!


Ep. 34: A Banner Year for Separation Science at Pittcon 2025

Analytically Speaking, the podcast from LCGC and Spectroscopy magazines, addresses important issues in separation science and analytical spectroscopy. Topics include new analytical techniques, methods, and approaches; the latest trends; advances in instrument and software technology; practical solutions for specific applications; recent papers in the scientific literature and their applicability; challenges and solutions for data analysis and interpretation; analytical chemistry theory and fundamentals (from advanced research to tutorials and troubleshooting); and more. Our regular hosts are Dwight Stoll, PhD, a professor of chemistry at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and Jerry Workman, PhD, a spectroscopist, noted author, and currently the Senior Technical Editor of Spectroscopy and LCGC. Dwight covers separation science and Jerry addresses spectroscopy related topics.

New tracks tagged #separationscience