Environment General Courses (ENVIRON)

graduate level, taught in Durham

ENV 298.81/CE 265.XX Instrumental Methods for Environmental Pollutants

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Organic Chemistry or at least 2 semesters of general chemistry.  Students must also have taken and passed Duke’s on-line Laboratory Safety Training Module. (Accessed at: http://www.safety.duke.edu/labsafety/Default.asp)

Class Hours and Location
Lecture: 1 to 1.25 hr per week, Mondays 4:25pm- 5:40pm
Lab session: Wednesdays 1:30-5:30pm, 024C Hudson Hall or A229 LSRC

Instructors:
Heather M. Stapleton, A220 LSRC, 613-8717, email: heather.stapleton@duke.edu                 
Heileen Hsu-Kim, Hudson Hall 127A, 660-5109, email: hsukim@duke.edu

Objectives of Course:
This course is designed to introduce students to the methods and instrumentation for detection and quantification of chemical pollutants in water, soil and air. Our goal is to provide science and engineering students the theoretical understanding of and hands-on experiences with analytical instrumentation needed to determine the fate of chemicals in the environment. These applications will provide fundamental knowledge of the tools that are utilized in environmental research and also facilitate insight to environmental data encountered by practicing engineers and scientists. A second objective of the course is to provide research experiences for students that will include development of a hypothesis-driven independent project, design and implementation of experimental procedures, and interpretation and presentation of research results.

Course structure:
The class involves both lecture (1 hr per week) and a laboratory component (4 hr per week). The laboratories will include 4 modules that involve experimental projects. The lectures will cover the fundamental theory behind the analytical instrumentation (e.g. gas and liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, atomic spectroscopy, voltammetry) and their advantages and disadvantages. In addition to the lecture and laboratory modules, students will be required to complete the following:

• Written scientific research reports (10 pages double-spaced) for each lab module
• Midterm exam and final exam on the lecture topics
• Independent research projects implemented during the last few weeks of the semester and presented with an oral presentation and a written report.

  
Recommended Texts (Not Required): 
Principles of Instrumental Analysis, by Douglas A. Skoog, F. James Holler and Timothy A. Nieman. 5th edition  

Trace Environmental Quantitative Analysis by Paul R. Loconto, 2nd edition

Grades:           Lab Reports (4)            35%
Project                         30%
Midterm exam              15%
Final exam                    20%

Course policies:
Lab Reports will be due approximately one week after the lab module is completed. Due dates will be confirmed at the start of the lab module. The instructors must receive at least 24 hr advanced notice for late assignments.
Class Projects: Proposed project ideas must be submitted by March 1st for approval by the instructors.
Absences: If you are unable to attend a laboratory session; you will be required to complete the experiment at an alternate time that can accommodate you and your instructors. Some experiments cannot be repeated; thus, an alternative lab will be assigned.
Laboratory Notebooks: Students will need to provide a laboratory notebook that is dedicated for the weekly lab modules. These notebooks will be used to record experimental procedures and raw data.
Course website at the Blackboard website:  http://courses.duke.edu
Electronic copies of laboratories, handouts, and exam solutions will be posted here.