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The X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) lab uses x-rays, a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, to determine the chemical composition of rocks, minerals, and soils. This data can be used to interpret important information about a rock’s history, including how and when it formed.

With representation from Hamilton’s eight major science departments, the Science Research Lab Crawl on Jan. 28 gave students space to learn about student-faculty research opportunities or simply get a better understanding of the science departments.

The bright orange lava that flows in Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano is breathtaking, but the cooled particles that end up in the Hamilton Analytical Lab are beautiful, too, to the scientists who analyze them for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Fourteen attendees and three instructors from around the world have gathered on campus for the Short Course in Modern X-ray Spectrometry Theory offered by the Hamilton Analysis (XRF) Lab this week.

Hamilton is one of a handful of academic institutions to offer its faculty and students an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer and two experts to operate it.

XRF Senior Laboratory Technician Rick Conrey and XRF Laboratory Technician Laureen Wagoner recently attended the 10th International Conference on the Analysis of Geological and Environmental Materials.

Samples of Hawaii’s destructive lava are being analyzed in the Hamilton Analytical Laboratory (HAL) for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) scientists to better understand the on-going volcanic eruption.

This year, an earth materials analytical instrument, an x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer, began operation in the Geosciences Department.