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Meet the staff – the analytical lab

In this series of "Meet the Staff" articles, we are following a typical sample around the lab, from receipt, through testing to reporting, meeting the staff involved along the way and seeing what they do. In the last issue we met the staff of the Prep Lab. Once they have prepared your samples for testing, the tests begin in earnest in the Analytical Lab. We are very fortunate to have found the people who work in this laboratory. They are the keystone of our successful operations and contribute immensely to the smooth running, productivity and innovation of our services.

Ian King

Our most senior staff member by tenure is Ian King, the laboratory supervisor. Ian has worked with SESL since 1995, having studied geophysics at university. He is our current high priest of the new ICP-OES. When a sample reaches him, depending on the testing required, Ian might have to split it into several subsamples for extraction. A typical sample is split into four subsamples for extraction in water (for pH, nitrate, electrical conductivity, chloride and others) and in different chemicals for analysis of cation exchange capacity, phosphorus, trace elements, sulphur and ammonium. Small bottles or vials of the soil and chemical solutions are shaken for up to an hour and a half (depending on the extraction), and then centrifuged to send the solids to the bottom. The liquid is then drawn off ready for analysis.

The tubes of liquid samples are placed in the required equipment, where automated samplers draw off a small amount of liquid and inject it into the instrument. The readings (for example, pH, EC or nitrate concentration) are recorded to computer. Along with every sample run, Ian includes some control samples (containing known quantities) and some blank samples (containing no quantities) for verification that the readings are correct. Results can then be adjusted as necessary.

The results on computer are saved to a USB memory stick and then transferred to another computer, where they are collated in a spreadsheet for assessment. All of this will change soon with the arrival of our new laboratory information management system, or LIMS (described in this issue), in which eventually all instruments will be linked by wireless to a dedicated computer that will collate and track all data on every sample.

Daniela Trpcevska

Daniela joined SESL in 2007. She spent 4 years training in chemistry at high school in Macedonia and then studied forestry at university, before marrying a Macedonian Australian and moving here in 2004. After learning English at college and TAFE for 2 years, Daniela first found work experience as a laboratory technician in an analytical lab before joining SESL.

At SESL, Daniela runs chemical tests on, among others, organic matter content, phosphorus sorption and content, liming value, acid sulphate content, total N, C and S, pH and EC. She is training in other chemical testing and in physical testing of potting mixes against Australian Standards.

Daniela is excited that SESL is paying for and supervising her training for TAFE Certificate IV in lab techniques, and will soon be training her for a diploma in lab technology.

Susan Nguyen

Susan is SESL's newest staff member at the moment, having been with us for 2 months.

Susan gained a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Saigon, and worked for 10 years in Viet Nam in chemical factories, in R&D, chemical manufacturing and process control. In Australia she has worked in chemical manufacturing, food technology and pharmaceutical technology. SESL is her first environmental lab.

With the wealth of her experience in analytical instruments, which includes 10 years in Australia with various ICPs, Susan has become an integral part of our laboratory. She runs SESL's new ICP-OES in conjunction with Ian King, and various other instruments. SESL will be relying on Susan to train our other staff in these instruments over time.

Katie McBryde

Katie joined SESL in late 2008 as our QA/QC (quality assurance, quality control) officer. Katie's role is to enter data into the computer (which, thankfully, the new LIMS will relieve her of soon); check and verify data, relying on her years of lab experience to alert her to suspect data; verify calculations; investigate and resolve problems in instrument readings and data recording; improve process quality, audit methods and implement different types of QC to maximise data reliability; and prepare for NATA accreditation through documentation of all procedures. Katie verifies that your samples have been analysed correctly, and sends them back if they haven't.

Katie gained a Bachelor of Science degree at The Evergreen State College, in Washington state, USA. She was granted a US National Science Foundation fellowship for a summer internship at Oregon State University in chemical oceanography. She then spent several years working in an environmental water testing lab as an analyst, and a few months working for a huge genetics firm called Invitrogen.

Katie met an Australian man living in Eugene, Oregon. She followed him to Australia in June 2008 with her daughter, and married in January 2009.

SESL is lucky to have found Katie, who has already brought improvements in the short time she has been with us.

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