I hope you all had a safe and relaxing holiday, and that 2017 is off to a good start for everyone. Paper submission for the Microscopy and Microanalysis 2017 Annual Meeting (St. Louis,
MO, 6-10 August, 2017) is now open, and will close on 15 February. My co-conveners and I would like to draw your attention to:
Symposium A09, Standards, Reference Materials, and Their Applications in Quantitative Microanalysis.
We are looking for submissions dealing with the synthesis, evaluation, and need for new reference materials; evaluation, distribution, and maintenance of existing reference materials;
the use of standards in quantitative microanalysis; and the application of quantitative microanalytical techniques to solving analytical problems. A full description of this session is included below. Papers may be submitted via the M&M2017 website:
http://www.microscopy.org/mandm/2017/
We are also pleased to announce the invited speakers for this symposium:
John Hanchar, Department of Earth Sciences, Memorial University, Newfoundland
William Nachlas, Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University
Timothy Rose, Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution
Stephen Wilson, Reference Materials Program, United States Geological Survey
We are very excited to hear from these experts in microanalytical standards and quantitative microanalysis, and we look forward to hearing about your work as well. See you in St. Louis!
The organizers of Symposium A09:
Julien Allaz, University of Colorado – Boulder
Anette von der Handt, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Owen Neill, Washington State University
Symposium Description:
Standards and reference materials are essential for obtaining accurate quantitative compositional data from X-ray microanalysis by EPMA or SEM (WDS/EDS), as well as from other microanalytical
techniques (LA-ICP-MS, SIMS, µ-XRF, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, etc.). These materials must be rigorously evaluated for their reference compositions and homogeneity, must be widely available to the analytical community, and must be properly maintained to avoid
contamination or deterioration. We welcome contributions on the synthesis, evaluation, distribution, and maintenance of standards and reference materials, as well as their appropriate use in microanalysis. We further encourage submissions on standard-based
applications of quantitative microanalysis, or on the development of new quantitative microanalytical protocols.