Salmon Mysteries and Beyond: Accelerating Environmental Chemical Discovery with Computational Mass Spectrometry

Emerging contaminants, such as pesticides, plasticizers, and perfluorinated compounds, are well-documented for their harmful eGects on ecosystems and human health. However, the chemicals we have identified so far represent only the tip of the iceberg, with countless potentially harmful contaminants remaining unknown in our environment. In this seminar, Dr. Zhao will showcase how untargeted mass spectrometry can uncover hidden dangers in our environment. She will describe a 20-yr journey that she participated in to chase down a highly toxic chemical in automobile tires that kills salmon. She will then discuss how recent advances in computational mass spectrometry can accelerate this process to maybe only a few weeks to months.

Speaker: Haoqi Zhao, UC San Diego

Attend in person or online (see weblink)