Pete E. Poston, Ph.D

Professor of Chemistry

Chemistry Department
Western Oregon University
Monmouth, OR 97361
(503) 838-8218

postonp@wou.edu

EDUCATION

Post-Graduate

Post-doctoral Research Fellow with Prof. Stephen Bialkowski at Utah State University, studies in Photothermal Spectroscopy at the National Center for Bio-Catalysis Science and Technology

Graduate

Graduation 8/89; Ph.D Physical-Analytical Chemistry, studies in Photothermal Spectroscopy under Prof. Joel Harris, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Undergraduate

Graduation 8/84; B.S. Chemistry, Fort Lewis College Chemistry Dept., Durango, CO, 81301
Graduation 8/81; B.S. Geology, Fort Lewis College Geology Dept., Durango, CO, 81301

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

September 2002 - present

Professor of Chemistry - Western Oregon University, Division of Natural Science & Mathematics, Monmouth, OR, 97361

Summer, 2008

Volunteer – Hans Flat Ranger Station, Maze District, Canyonlands National Park, UT; studied the composition of Barrier Canyon-style rock art pigments using Raman Spectroscopy

June 2005 - September 2006

Visiting Professor of Chemistry - Sabbatical leave with Prof. Joel Harris at the University of Utah, research on designing Au-nanoparticle-based chemical sensors, summer support from ROA grant

September 1995 - September 2002

Associate Professor of Chemistry - Western Oregon University, Division of Natural Science & Mathematics, Monmouth, OR, 97361

September 1990 - September 1995

Assistant Professor of Chemistry - Western Oregon University

August 1998 - present

What's New Editor for the journal Applied Spectroscopy - monthly column reporting on new instrumentation, electronics, and software of general interest to the spectroscopic community.

October 1999 - June 2002

Webmaster for the Society of Applied Spectroscopy

September 1997 - June 2000

Department Chair, Earth & Physical Sciences - Western Oregon University

June 1989 - August 1990

Post-doctoral Research and Teaching Fellow with Prof. Stephen Bialkowski at the Center for Bio-Catalysis Science and Technology, Utah State University, responsible for laser related photothermal instrumentation; teaching of General Chemistry.

September 1984-August 1989

Graduate Research And Teaching Fellow under Prof. Joel Harris at the U of Utah Chemistry Dept., research in Photothermal Spectroscopy, taught General Chemistry labs and recitations

January 1981 - April 1982

Mine Operations Geologist - Homestake Gold Mine, Lead, South Dakota, responsible for all geological activities in Division IV, including sampling, diamond drilling, mapping, and ore inventory

September 1980 - December 1980

Assistant Geologist - Co-op position at the Schwartzwalter Uranium Mine, Boulder, CO, logged drill core, setup diamond drilling, repaired geiger counters, generally backed up activities of Mine Geologists

 

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

 

American Chemical Society
Society for Applied Spectroscopy

 

 

RESEARCH SKILLS

 

Trained and experienced in the use of modern chemical instrumentation including SERS, GC-MS, HPLC, FTIR, UV-Vis, NMR, fluorescence, AA spectroscopy, and electrochemistry

 

Computer skills include Microsoft Visual Basic and Fortran programming, knowledgeable with the use of computers in numerical methods using Numerical Recipes in C, Matlab, MathCad, and Maple, strong in statistics and in the use of Chemometrics including Factor analysis and Partial Least Squares

 

Experienced in the use of lasers: Q-switched Nd:YAG, diode, excimers, copper vapor lasers, synchronously pumped dye lasers, nitrogen, and helium-neon lasers

 

Experienced in the use of data acquisition devices and software such as digitizing oscilloscopes, LabView, and IEEE/488 and RS-232 interfacing; skilled at the use of fast time scale photomultiplier tubes, photodiodes, and associated electronics

 

Geology Experience: 2 years experience as a hard-rock mining Geologist; trained in rock and mineralogy identification, field mapping, etc.

 

 

CLASSES TAUGHT

Ch 104 - Introductory Chemistry
Ch 161 - Fundamentals of Photography for Forensic Science
Ch 221-223 - General Chemistry
Ch 310 - Geochemistry
Ch 312 - Quantitative Analysis
Ch 313 - Instrumental Methods

Ch 354 - Computational Chemistry
Ch 420 - Forensic Chemistry
Ch 461 - Experimental Chemistry
Ch 471 - Chemical Instrumentation
Ch 473 - The Chemistry Behind the Environmental Issues


RECENT RESEARCH

 

·          Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of rock art pigments in the Colorado Plateau, USA

 

·          The construction and application of nanoscale gold-sols as chemical detectors for methamphetamine using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)

 

·          Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of PNIPAM

·          Study of Impact-Related Nanodiamonds and Magnetic Microspherules in a Younger Dryas Black Mat, sampled from the Maze District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

 

 

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

 

·          “Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Rock Art Pigment from the Great Gallery, Maze District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah”, Pete E. Poston, Society of Western Analytical Professors, 2010, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

 

·          “Raman Spectrometric and Scanning Electron Microscopy – Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX) Analysis of Rock Art Pigment From the Great Gallery, Maze District, Canyonlands National Park, UT”, Pete E. Poston, 2011 Pecos Conference in Archaeology, Aug 11-14, Jacob Lake, AZ

 

·          “Stable, Dispersible Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Substrate Capable of Detecting Molecules Bound to Silica-Immobilized Ligands”, Society of Western Analytical Professors, 2011, University of California , Riverside

 

GRANTS

2008

Faculty Development Grant – Category III – Research / Major Projects – funded at $4375

 

“Detection of Impact-Related Nanodiamonds and Magnetic Microspherules in a Younger Dryas Black Mat Using Transmission Electron Microscopy on Materials Sampled From the Maze District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

2001

Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant, "Environmental Chemistry Field Equipment for Measuring Water Quality Data in the Willamette Basin Watershed", Pete Poston, $5,000

2000

Oregon Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (OCEPT) Fellow, development of a multidisciplinary, field-intensive Institute to prepare K-12 teachers in biology, geology, and environmental chemistry, Bryan Dutton, Jeff Meyers, Pete Poston, Steve Taylor, $4400

1999

Western Oregon University Faculty Development Grant (WOU-FDG), "Laser Studies of Surfaces", P.E. Poston and B. Matson, $2000

1996

WOU-FDG, "Environmental Analysis for Herbicides Within the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge", P.E. Poston, $995

1994

Western Oregon University Foundation Grant, Scholarship for high school students interested in majoring in chemistry, $2000

1994

WOU-FDG, "Developing an Undergraduate Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory", P.E. Poston, $1987

1993

NSF Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement Grant, "Integrating Real-World Problem Solving Into the Chemistry Curriculum", P.E. Poston and A.R. Courtney, $75,212

1992

WOU-FDG, "Specific Ion Electrodes For Water Analysis", P.E. Poston, $500

1991

WOU-FDG, "Aqueous Phase Degradation Rates of Pollutants Using a Photochemical Chamber Reactor", P.E. Poston and R.M. Kazerouni, $1,000

1990

WOU-FDG, "The Development of An Electronics and Computer Interfacing Lab For A Chemical Instrumentation Class", P.E. Poston and A.R. Courtney, $998

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

1.

“Stable, Dispersible Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Substrate Capable of Detecting Molecules Bound to

Silica-Immobilized Ligands”, Pete E. Poston and Joel M. Harris, Applied Spectroscopy, 2010, 64, 1238-1243

2.

“Raman Spectroscopic and Scanning Electron Microscopy-X-ray Diffraction Analysis of Rock Art Pigment from the Great Gallery, Maze District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA - article in preparation, to be submitted to Applied Spectroscopy

3.

“Final Report: Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Rock Art Pigment from the Great Gallery, Maze District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah”, Dr. Pete E. Poston and Gary Cox, 2009, submitted to the National Park Service

4.

"Luckiamute River Watershed, Upper Willamette Basin: an integrated environmental study for K-12 educators", S.B. Taylor, B.E.Dutton, and P.E. Poston, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Special Paper 36: 2002, 167-186

5.

"In Situ Adsorption Studies at Silica/Solution Interfaces by Attenuated Total Internal Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy: Examination of Adsorption Models in Normal-Phase Liquid Chromatography", Dion Rivera, Pete E. Poston, Rory H. Uibel, and Joel M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 2000, 72, 1543-1554

6.

"In Situ Detection of Adsorbates at Silica/Solution Interfaces by Fourier Transform Infrared Attenuated Total Reflection Spectroscopy Using a Silica-Coated Internal Reflection Element", Pete E. Poston, Dion Rivera, Rory H. Uibel, and Joel M. Harris, Applied Spectroscopy, 1998, 52, 1391-1398

7.

"Two-dimensional Graphics at a Reasonable Price", Pete E. Poston and Joel M. Harris, Software Review, News and Features Section, Analytical Chemistry, 1997, 69, 182A-183A

8.

"A Visual Method of Teaching Mass Balance Relationships to Undergraduate Quantitative Analysis Students", P.E. Poston, Journal of Chemical Education, 1994, 71, 146-147

9.

"Quantitative Determination of Asbestos in Drinking Water by Differential Pulse Polarography", P.E. Poston and L. Wallace, Procedings 1993 Oregon Academy of Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

10.

"Pulsed-Laser Excited Differential Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy", S.E. Bialkowski, X. Gu, P.E. Poston, and L.S. Powers, Applied Spectroscopy, 1992, 46, 1335-1345

11.

"Kinetic Titration Method to Determine the Excited State Concentration of a Photochemical Sensitizer", P.E. Poston and J.M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 1991, 63, 688-692

12.

"Photothermal Beam Deflection Study of Energy Transfer from Excited Triplet States in Fluid Solution", P.E. Poston and J.M. Harris, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 1991, 60, 51-61

13

"Excited State Calorimetry Studies of Triplet Benzophenone Using Time-resolved Photothermal Beam Deflection Spectroscopy", P.E. Poston and J.M. Harris, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1990, 112, 644-650

14.

"Thermal Lens Measurements in Liquids on a Sub-microsecond Time Scale", Stefan J. Isak, Stanislaw J. Komorowski, Clifton N. Merrow, P.E. Poston and Edward M. Eyring, Applied Spectroscopy, 1989, 43, 419-422

15.

"Advances in Regression: Use of Models in Spectroscopic Data Analysis", by J.M. Harris, S.D. Frans, P.E. Poston, and A.L. Wong, a chapter prepared for Computer-Enhanced Analytical Spectroscopy, vol. 2, H.L.C. Meuzelaar, ed. Plenum Press, New York, 1990, 318 p.

16.

"Maximum Likelihood Quantitative Estimates for Peaks: Application to Photoacoustic Spectroscopy", P.E. Poston and J.M. Harris, Analytical Chemistry, 1987, 59, 1620-1626