When DNA is absent, incomplete, or difficult to interpret, what other evidence can help forensic investigators make meaningful connections?

In this episode of Concentrating on Chromatography, David Oliva speaks with Dr. Candice Bridge of the University of Central Florida and the National Center for Forensic Science about the emerging field of forensic lubricant analysis.

Dr. Bridge explains how chemical residues from sexual lubricants can support sexual-assault investigations by helping connect a victim, suspect, condom wrapper, or crime scene—especially when a usable DNA profile is unavailable. She discusses why DNA is not always the “silver bullet” people expect, why preserving limited evidence is essential, and how forensic laboratories prioritize the least destructive analysis first.

The conversation also explores the analytical chemistry behind lubricant evidence:

• The chemical differences among water-, silicone-, oil-, and natural/edible-based lubricants
• Why personal-care products such as lotions and oils can complicate forensic interpretation
• The limitations of conventional GC-MS for high-mass polymers such as PDMS and PEG
• How DART-TOF mass spectrometry enables rapid screening of complex forensic samples
• Why extraction from cotton swabs and other evidence substrates remains a critical challenge
• How solvent polarity affects recovery of lubricant components
• How likelihood ratios, population studies, and retail-market data could help assess the rarity and evidentiary value of a recovered lubricant residue
• Practical advice for undergraduate students considering careers in forensic science and analytical chemistry

Dr. Bridge also shares why she chose an underdeveloped research area, what it takes to build a new forensic discipline, and why students should pursue socially important scientific questions—even when funding and established protocols have not yet caught up.

Guest: Dr. Candice Bridge
Host: David Oliva
Podcast: Concentrating on Chromatography

Follow the podcast for conversations on chromatography, mass spectrometry, forensic science, sample preparation, laboratory technology, and careers in analytical chemistry.

He built a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer small enough to fit in a carry-on suitcase, then hauled it up a 43-meter tower in 100-degree Alabama heat to catch invisible forest chemicals in real time.

Austin "Augie" Dobrecevich, a PhD researcher at the University of Washington, joins Candi and David to break down how his ultra-fast GC captures a full chromatogram every single second, isomer-speciating the biogenic VOCs (like alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, and limonene) that trees release into the atmosphere. Those compounds don't just disappear; they react with ozone and each other, eventually seeding the massive summer thunderstorms that roll over the southeast.

Augie walks through why traditional chemical ionization mass spec struggles to tell chemical isomers apart, how his fast GC front end solves that blind spot, and the engineering trade-offs required to make the whole system run on less power than a vacuum cleaner. The conversation also opens up into where this technology could go next, from oceanographic research to coral reef VOC sampling, and closes with a candid look at the patent process: provisional patents, university tech transfer offices, IP strategy, and the leap from writing research papers to pitching a business case.

Whether you're deep into analytical chemistry or just curious how scientists are learning to read the invisible chemistry of a forest, this episode covers both the technical detail and the real story of turning a lab prototype into something the world might actually use.

Guest: Austin Dobrecevich

Hosts: Candi Gokey and David Oliva

Arielle Cocozza, National Technical PFAS Lead at ALS USA Environmental, joins David Oliva and Candi Gokey to break down the current state of PFAS analysis — from her unconventional path out of a physics degree into environmental chemistry, to standardizing PFAS methods across a national lab network.In this episode, Arielle explains what PFAS actually are and why their fluorine-carbon bonds make them so persistent, walks through LC-MS/MS vs. GC-MS/MS selection for different PFAS classes (including fluorotelomer alcohols and volatile fluorocarbons), and discusses column chemistry choices like C18 and pentafluorophenyl phases. The conversation dives deep into 6PPD-quinone — the tire-wear-particle degradation product linked to coho salmon die-offs — and how EPA fast-tracked Draft Method 1634 in response. Arielle also covers the Total Oxidizable Precursor (TOP) assay, EPA's new ultra-short direct-injection Method 1633/563 workflows, sample volume miniaturization, automation trends in extraction, and the patchwork of state-by-state PFAS regulations on food packaging and biosolids ahead of federal rulemaking.

Mauricio Caraballo, PhD, director of the MSCollaboratory at UC San Diego, joins Candi Gokey and host David Oliva to unpack how untargeted LC-MS/MS metabolomics reveals hidden chemistry in coral reefs, fish, and ocean water. They dig into molecular networking, GNPS, and how free mass spec training is helping marine scientists worldwide analyze samples they couldn't otherwise decode.

Links: mscollaboratory.ucsd.edu | Mauricio Caraballo: linkedin.com/in/mauricio-caraballo-4b5577176

Mechanical engineer Mason Chilmonczyk, PhD (Andson Biotech) joins host David Oliva to explain why sample prep — not the mass spec itself — is the biggest bottleneck in LC-MS and native MS workflows. Mason breaks down the DynaChip, a microfluidic device that shrinks hours of buffer exchange into seconds, and shares how "democratizing" mass spec is opening the door for cell therapy manufacturers to catch analytical blind spots that traditional workflows miss. A must-listen for anyone working in native mass spec, biopharma analytics, or cell therapy development.

Dr. Emanuela Gionfriddo, Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University at Buffalo, joins host David Oliva to explore solid phase microextraction (SPME), green analytical chemistry, and PFAS analysis. Trained in Professor Janusz Pawliszyn's lab at the University of Waterloo — where SPME was invented — she shares how deep SPME theory reshaped her research and now drives her lab's work on environmental and biological chemistry.In this episode, Emanuela discusses how SPME complies with the 12 principles of green analytical chemistry, why her lab consistently produces the least waste in her department, and how biomimetic SPME devices using natural biopolymers like alginic acid and chitin reveal how pollutants bioaccumulate in the environment. She also covers her lab's PFAS research, including a surprising study testing mascara for PFAS contamination, the analytical challenges of volatile PFAS detection, and why field-deployable PFAS quantification isn't quite ready yet.Topics covered: SPME fundamentals, green analytical chemistry, PFAS detection, biomimetic extraction, mixed-mode sorbents, GC×GC for volatile PFAS, and emerging microplastics research.Connect with Dr. Emanuela Gionfriddo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emanuela-gionfriddo-60492659/Subscribe to Concentrating on Chromatography for more conversations with leading separation science researchers.

On this episode of Concentrating on Chromatography, hosts David Oliva @Organomation and Candice Gokey are joined by Matthew Lewis @Bruker to unpack the new hybrid metabolomics workflow born from Bruker's acquisition of @biocrates .For 20 years, mass spectrometrists have had to choose between targeted quantitation and untargeted discovery. Matthew explains how chemical derivatization, high-resolution mass spec, and Biocrates' 1,000+ metabolite kits now let researchers get both — without running samples twice.Topics covered: - Why "there's no such thing as an untargeted platform, just an uninformed one" - How the Biocrates MX Quant Kits standardize sample prep and derivatization - NMR vs. mass spectrometry for metabolomics — and why electrospray ionization is metabolomics' "biggest Achilles heel" - Data-dependent (DDA) vs. data-independent (DIA) acquisition, explained simply - Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry (TIMS) and collisional cross-section (CCS) as a "gas-phase chromatography" tool for resolving isomers and interferences - In silico derivatization software for annotating derivatized metabolites - The "digital metabolome archive": building future-proof, reanalysis-ready 4D data (MS1 + retention time + CCS + MS/MS) for AI-ready datasets - Why standardization — not just new features — is what will move the metabolomics field forwardMatthew also shares insights from Bruker's collaboration with Dr. Michael Witting at the Helmholtz Institute, and discusses the real-world sample constraints (biobanks, field research, precious cohorts) driving demand for do-more-with-less workflows.Guest: Matthew Lewis, Bruker — https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-reese-lewis/Co-host: Candice Gokey — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmgokey15/Host: David Oliva, Organomation#Metabolomics #MassSpectrometry #Chromatography #Bruker #Biocrates #Lipidomics #SystemsBiology #TIMS #IonMobility

If you take a handful of dirt from the roadside, it contains PFAS. The challenge isn't finding forever chemicals — it's finding all of them. Standard monitoring methods cover 40 to 50 PFAS species. Thousands more go completely unmeasured. That's the gap Dr. Viktoria Müller has spent her career trying to close.Viktoria is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Graz specializing in PFAS environmental fate, transport, and the fluorine mass balance. Her work spans ski slopes, rivers, wastewater treatment plants, bees, wild deer, shrimp, and the Ganges River — and it has made international headlines. In this episode, she breaks down what we're missing, why routine analysis creates a false sense of security, and what wildlife can tell us that instruments alone cannot.In this episode:- [00:01:30] Why PFAS is unavoidable — and what you can actually control- [00:02:00] The pizza box explanation: how Viktoria describes PFAS to non-scientists- [00:04:00] How her research path built from soil → ski slopes → snowmelt → rivers → wildlife- [00:05:00] What "closing the fluorine mass balance gap" actually means for environmental monitoring- [00:06:50] Ski wax and the 99% problem: targeted PFAS analysis only identified less than 1% of the total organofluorine in ski wax — what is the rest?- [00:11:00] LC-MS/MS vs. ICP-MS/MS vs. CIC for PFAS and fluorine analysis — and which one Viktoria would buy ("don't blame me later")- [00:18:50] TOP assay vs. ozonation: same precursor, different breakdown products — what that means for anyone relying on TOP assay data- [00:21:00] Honeybees as short-term local PFAS sentinels — and how a beekeeper biologist changed how Viktoria interpreted her own data- [00:24:00] Collectors or house cleaners? How to tell whether an animal is accumulating PFAS or just carrying it on the surface- [00:25:30] The roe deer liver study: 87% drop in PFAS from 1998 to 2022 — bans work, but the industry keeps replacing regulated compounds with unregulated ones- [00:33:00] Wastewater treatment plants downstream: more PFAS species coming out than going in — and what the mass balance approach revealed about why- [00:37:00] Personal aside: Viktoria's one regret about not taking her own blood sample before she started working with PFAS- [00:39:30] What's next: a funded proposal exploring PFAS in clouds and atmospheric chemistry — a topic almost no one is working onConnect with Dr. Viktoria Müller:Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Prq41XUAAAAJ&hl=enLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktoria-m%C3%BCller-8a1843a7/About Organomation:Organomation manufactures nitrogen blowdown evaporators and nitrogen generators used in PFAS sample preparation workflows, including EPA Methods 533, 537.1, and 1633. Learn more at organomation.com. @ChromatographyTalk is proudly produced by @Organomation #PFAS #ForeverChemicals #AnalyticalChemistry #EnvironmentalChemistry #MassSpectrometry #Chromatography