Apr 16, 2022 5 min read

Waynesburg University’s chemistry and forensic science departments have benefited from a donation of top-of-the-line equipment.

An anonymous donor gifted the department a liquid chromatography mass spectrometer (LCMS), a gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GCMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. The NMR is expected to arrive in the summer, while the other instruments are in use at the school.

To best explain the instruments, the NMR helps the chemist understand what a molecule “looks like,” while the LCMS and the GCMS enable the finding of trace amounts of important molecules.

Mike Cipoletti, forensic science program director, said the donor hasn’t provided many details about why he wanted to donate the instruments, but he did say he talked with the donor about the struggles small schools have in securing updated equipment.

“He’s commented several times that he likes the good work that we’re doing, likes the way that we’re doing it, loves the fact that we’re a small school but wants to give students opportunities they can get at larger schools with deeper pockets,” Cipoletti said. “He saw something in us that he wanted to support and obviously, we’re very grateful to receive it.”

Waynesburg will be the first small school in the region to have this caliber of NMR when it arrives.

“It’s the newest on the market at this company for this particular type,” said Dr. Evonne Baldauff, chair of the department of chemistry and forensics science. “So, we’re really excited to have many of the newest things out there that students could possibly work on here in little old Greene County. I think it’s something kind of special.”

The new equipment provides students the chance to work with the quality of equipment in use at the professional level and can give them a big advantage as they seek jobs. Plus, more students are able to use the equipment at the same time than was the case with old equipment.

“I always had to split (students) them up into smaller groups, bring them in at different times,” Cipoletti said. “Now they’re able to collaborate because they can all sit at a microscope at the same time. That’s a small thing, but it’s a big deal. It really helps us instruct these students with a lot more continuity. It makes the training process a lot more efficient.”

Senior Andrew Gordon, a biochemistry major from Strongsville, Ohio, who plans to go to medical school, has used the equipment for research and his instrumental chemistry class.

“These instruments help me because a lot of the stuff that is done in a hospital, a lot of that lab work, is done mainly through instruments like these,” he said. “It’s preparing me because I get to work with these instruments first-hand. Not a lot of physicians might have an extensive knowledge of how these instruments work or care. I’ve developed an appreciation for it. Everything that happens in lab work in a hospital is so key, and a lot of that lab work is done with instruments like these.”

Also, the chemistry department will be able to collaborate with the state police crime lab for analysis of illicit opioid samples using two undergraduate researchers.

“What we’re finding is the illicit drug users are always coming up with little tweaks to the molecular structures of these things,” Cipoletti said. “NMR is a tool that allows you to identify these molecular changes before you have standards to compare them to.”

The hope is that eventually the college will be able to provide a service to the crime lab.

“Being one of the only NMRs in the region, we not only want to just help out our students, but we’re trying to help the community. It also gives our students a chance to collaborate with professionals in some of the jobs they’re seeking,” Cipoletti said.

The new LCMS is being used as part of an undergraduate research project to detect the presence of herbicides as a service to local growers of organic produce.

“It’s a way for local growers to tell potential purchasers that what they’re saying about their produce is legit, that it’s gone through screening,” Baldauff said. “They’re able to give assurance that what we’re telling you is true.”

In addition to undergraduate students, the new equipment will be available for high school students throughout outreach activities with local schools as well as events such as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) camp.

“We definitely want to work with high school teachers, middle school teachers, even ambitious elementary school teachers that want to expose their students to more science,” Baldauff said. “I think we’re pretty good at reaching out to students at different levels to give them exciting reasons why science might be a great career and why they should try in their math and science classes.”