From Corporate Scientist to the Unpredictable World of Science Writing: Fond Memories of Twenty-Five Years of Freelancing for Spectroscopy Magazine

Thomas,Robert;

From Corporate Scientist to the Unpredictable World of Science Writing: Fond Memories of Twenty-Five Years of Freelancing for Spectroscopy Magazine

June 5, 2025

By Robert Thomas

News

Article

SpectroscopyJune 2025

Volume 40

Issue 5

Pages: 16–22

https://doi.org/10.56530/spectroscopy.pd9180i4

This year represents the 40^th anniversary of Spectroscopy magazine. I might be showing my age, but 1985 was the year I got transferred to the United States from the United Kingdom to take up a new position as an atomic spectroscopy (AS) application scientist at the PerkinElmer Corporation in Connecticut. Although I wrote many company application reports on trace element analysis in those early years, it wasn’t until February 1990 when I co-authored my first article in Spectroscopy entitled “The Benefits of a Multiparameter Optimization Algorithm for the Analysis of Difficult Samples by ICP-OES” (1). I remember that day with great pride when I showed the article to my colleagues in the AS Product Department….my very first in a peer-reviewed journal. However, it would be another four years until my next publication in the magazine, which eventually led to an additional three articles as a PerkinElmer scientist before I took an early retirement package in 2000, the result of a corporate restructuring, bringing to an end 24 wonderful years of working for the company.

Science Writing Looks Like Fun!

After a few months of applying for similar jobs in the corporate world, I made a decision that I would try my hand at science writing. I had been thinking about it for a while, as I was weighing my options for a future career path. Fortunately, my wife was still working as a Vice President of business development at a local biotech company that was developing a molecular-based test for the human papilloma virus (HPV), the major cause of cervical cancer, so there was no immediate urgency to get back into a regular job. So, I put the word out to my contacts at the analytical instrument companies and the journal editorial world, to see if there was any interest in hiring me for writing projects. I got my first break, when an ex-colleague of mine at PerkinElmer who had recently joined the editorial team at the American Chemical Society (ACS) to start up two new trade magazines, Today’s Chemist at Work and Modern Drug Discovery, hired me to write an article for Today’s Chemist at Work on the “Cost of Carrying out Trace Element Analysis”(2). This was followed by three more articles over the next nine months, and one in Modern Drug Discovery on the “Early Detection of Cervical Cancer” (3). So, within a year of becoming a freelance science writer, I had five publications to my name. I was extremely happy with this start, and was beginning to think this was relatively easy, but I would soon be brought back down to earth with a bump.

Spectroscopy: The Early Years

It was another five months before I got another project. I had reached out to Michael MacRea, the editor of Spectroscopy in early 2000 when I first got let go from PerkinElmer. He was not interested at the time, but said he would keep me in mind for future work. Then, in late 2000, he contacted me to see if I was interested in writing a piece on a new analytical technique at that time, variable-flow/nanoscale capillary liquid chromatography (LC)/electrospray mass spectrometry (MS). I knew nothing about the technique, but I knew a great deal about MS and was very familiar with LC from my time in instrument sales for PerkinElmer in the United Kingdom. I was also very capable of carrying out research and writing about complex topics for a lay audience. Bottom line, I took on the project, and, three months later, “Recent Developments in LC–MS-MS for the Identification and Measurement of Nanoscale Amounts of Proteins and Peptides” appeared in the January 2001 issue of Spectroscopy (4). This was followed by another gig on the commercialization of laser ablation, entitled, “A Solid Sampling Tool Finally Reaches Maturity: What Drove the Development of Laser Sampling” for Atomic Spectroscopy” (5), which was co-authored with two scientists at Cetac Technologies.

“Beginners Guide to ICP-MS” Tutorial Series

Fortunately, that gave me a lot of exposure with the Spectroscopy Editorial team, because in February 2001 Michelle Nicholson, the Managing Editor at that time hired me to design an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) wall poster that they were going to give away to every reader of the print edition of the magazine. This turned out be a pivotal moment for me, because she then asked to write a tutorial series on the fundamentals of ICP-MS. It was intended originally to be a four-part series, but such was its popularity that the project grew and grew and eventually became a 14-part series, “Beginners Guide to ICP-MS” that ran from April, 2001 to February, 2003 (6), which became the incentive to write my first book, Practical Guide to ICP-MS: A Tutorial for Beginners, published in 2004 by Marcel Dekker (now CRC Press/Taylor and Francis) (7). The tutorial series led to regular assignments with the magazine until I received a formal contract for a quarterly “Atomic Perspectives” column of my own in 2014 which focused on the fundamentals and applications of atomic spectroscopy (8). There is no question that this gave my work a great deal of visibility, that I was getting requests to write for other magazines including Photonics, Laser Focus World, Pharma Genomics, Micro, Semiconductor Manufacturing, Plant Engineering, Practicing Oil Analysis and Lab Manager, as well as getting requests from a number of instrumentation companies to write application notes and to contribute editorial content for magazines and journals. All of a sudden, I was having serious time management issues, so I had to be selective about the number of new projects I took on.

Spectroscopy Editorial Team

Between February 2003 (when the tutorial series came to an end) and signing the contract for my column in 2014, I was extremely busy, with 37 publications in various magazines and journals, including 18 for Spectroscopy magazine. David Walsh had taken over from Michelle Nicholson, as the managing editor and editorial director, so he became my main point of contact up until 2010 when Laura Bush (and Meg L’Heureux) took over. They became my main liaisons until Meg left to be Editor-in-Chief of Cannabis Science and Technology (a recent addition to the MJH Sciences journal portfolio) in 2018 and Laura left the company in 2023. During Laura’s time as the editor, she introduced me to Michael Kushner’s group, which handled special projects. My main role with them was to write summaries of Spectroscopy and LCGC webcasts from the recording transcripts. When Laura left, Caroline Hroncrich took over as Editorial Director, supported by Managing Editor John Chasse. The timelines might not be totally accurate, but the magazine changed hands a number of times during this time from Advanstar Communications to UBM to MJH Life Sciences, with a slightly different way of dealing with freelance writers (including invoicing!), so I was continually having to readjust and refine my relationship with the magazine.

Practical Guide to ICP-MS

In the middle of this changing landscape, my book publisher was very keen for me to write a new edition of my book to reflect recent developments in the technique, so in 2008 the second edition of Practical Guide to ICP-MS: A Tutorial for Beginners was published (9). I soon discovered that book publishers will remind you (constantly) that a textbook only has a limited lifetime, so, five years after the second edition was published, I came out with a third edition in 2013, which included updates to the ICP-MS technology, and detailed information about its many sampling accessories, and in particular how they were improving the technique’s performance capabilities and changing the application landscape (10).

Elemental Impurities in Pharmaceuticals

Around this time, I began seeing more interest in writing pharmaceutical applications from instrument companies which coincided with the pharmaceutical industry being mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to get a better understanding of elemental impurities in the drug manufacturing process. Up until then, heavy metals limits had very little basis in toxicology and as result the industry had been using a method described in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Chapter 231 (11), which was a colorimetric test based on precipitation of the metal sulfide and comparing the sample to a lead standard. This 100-year-old heavy metals test procedure was being replaced by a brand new method described in USP Chapter <233>, which describes a plasma-based analytical procedure—either inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) or inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)—for measuring up to 24 elemental impurities in drug products and drug substances. The limits for these impurities are outlined in USP Chapter <232> for the United States (13), and International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) Q3D Guidelines in Europe and the rest of the world (14).

ACS Reagent Chemicals Committee

I was very familiar with this analysis, as 10 years previously I was asked to lead the heavy metals, plasma spectrochemistry task force on the American Chemical Society (ACS) Reagent Chemicals Committee, a working group that sets specifications, methods and standards for analytical reagents (15). We had been tasked with writing a new test method for measuring heavy metals in reagent chemicals using plasma spectrochemistry techniques which was very similar to the sulfide precipitation test that the pharmaceutical industry had been using. As the ACS book of analytical reagents was widely used for pharmaceutical testing purposes, it made sense for the ACS committee to work with USP to develop a similar method. This led to a collaboration for a number of years which eventually led to the approval of USP Chapters 232/233, together with the ICH Q3D Guidelines for elemental impurities in pharmaceutical products in 2018. While working on this methodology, I saw the opportunity for an educational reference resource, which became the incentive for my fourth book, Measuring Elemental impurities in Pharmaceuticals, published in February 2018 (16).

Heavy Metals in Cannabis and Hemp

Little did I know at the time that this book would get me the attention of the cannabis industry. The book had been out about 12 months when a reader had contacted me to suggest that I take a look at the cannabis industry, which in his words, “was flying by the seat of its pants,” and did not have a good understanding of sources of heavy metals in the cannabis manufacturing process. I wasn’t looking for a new writing project, but I did some basic research and found out that it was an industry that was compelling, chaotic, and crazy all at the same time, but a little out of control (“the Wild West,” as many people would describe it). However, I thought I could make a significant difference, particularly in the measurement of heavy metals. So, I decided to jump in and spent the next six months interviewing growers, cultivators, processors, manufacturers, testing labs, and state regulators in the United States and Canada to get a solid understanding of the major issues around testing of cannabis and hemp for elemental contaminants. I knew I might have been ruffling a few feathers when a cannabis grower accused me of being an investigative journalist when I asked them if they knew the levels of heavy metals in their cannabis plants. To make a long story short, I felt I could make a contribution to the knowledge base in the industry and published my fifth textbook in December 2020, Measuring Heavy Metals in Cannabis and Hemp Consumer Products. (17). This gave me a lot of visibility in the industry, and overnight I was getting interest to contribute editorial content from a number of cannabis science magazines, including Cannabis Science and Technology, and Analytical Cannabis, which was a part of the Technology Networks online platform. It eventually led to writing regular articles for Analytical Cannabis (which has since folded) and guest contributions for the “Navigating the Lab” column in Cannabis Science and Technology under the editorial guidance of Managing Editor Madeline Colli and Column Editor Patti Atkins from Spex (18).

Atomic Perspectives Columns

When you make a decision to write a book, it takes a great deal of focus, with very little time to take on other projects. So, in the early days of my “Atomic Perspectives” column, I would seek contributions from colleagues who were working in the field of atomic spectroscopy. These would be a combination of scientists from instrumentation vendors, academia, industry, research organizations, quality control (QC) laboratories...basically anyone in my network who was carrying out interesting, compelling, or novel research related to the field of atomic spectroscopy in the environmental, clinical, biomedical geochemical, electronics, consumer products, and other application segments. This has been my mission every year since 2016, resulting in two columns that I write myself and contributions from colleagues for the other two. They are published every three months in January, April, July, and October. I have a large network of connections, so I have no problem getting contributions (too many at times). However, sometimes it’s easy to lose control of the review and approval process, as my contributors don’t always understand editorial guidelines or timelines, particularly if they are co-authoring a piece with a colleague in a different time zone or often in another country, which often delays it being sent back to me. Another problem is that I’m very strict about commercial content. My columns have to be impartial and unbiased, and sometimes that becomes an issue with a contributor who is trying to push a particular piece of technology, instrument, or a feature. So, I have to remind them that it isn’t a commercial application note, but an interesting article on how a technique is being used to solve a particular analytical problem. For that reason, I like to work with contributors who are experienced practitioners of the technique they are writing about, which ensures that its applicability is the driving factor and not the instrument that is carrying out the analysis. That’s why last year, I asked my younger daughter Glenna to contribute a piece based on her PhD work on the use of plants to remediate contaminated soil from the mining and extraction of rare earth minerals. As a result, she wrote a two-part column in May and August in 2024 entitled “The Application of Atomic Spectroscopy Techniques in the Recovery of Critical Raw Materials from Industrial Waste Streams.” I’m biased, of course, but they were really nice educational articles, which were very informative and well received by the readers (19,20).

Practical Guide to ICP-MS, Fourth Edition

Around three years ago I got the expected call from the new chemistry editor at my publisher’s that it had been over eight years since the third edition of my Practical Guide to ICP-MS book had been published. I knew it was coming, but I had been working on my other books, and with my regular column work, I just didn’t have the time to think about a new book. However, I was also getting regular feedback from my readers asking me when I was coming out with another edition of the book. Not only that, but they were wondering if I was thinking about including other atomic spectroscopy techniques. So, in 2022, I made the decision to write the fourth edition of my book, but this time to include other complementary AS techniques, such as atomic absorption (AA) spectroscopy, ICP-OES, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (MP-AES), laser ablation-laser ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LALI-TOF-MS), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. As a result, in early 2024, my sixth textbook was published, entitled Practical Guide to ICP-MS and Other Atomic Spectroscopy Techniques: A Tutorial for Beginners (21). The sales of the book in just over a year have exceeded my publisher’s expectations, and, as result, we recently signed contracts with Chinese and Japanese publishers to get the book translated and published in China and Japan (yes, a Chinese publisher did sign a licensing and copyright agreement). In addition, we are currently negotiating with publisher in Madrid for a Spanish version of the book. I’ll keep you posted.

Final Thoughts

My relationship with Spectroscopy magazine has made a significant impact on my second career as freelance science writer. I like to think I would have eventually made it but there is no question that my “Beginners Guide to ICP-MS” tutorial series in 2001 gave me the launching pad and the confidence to make a career out of it—a career that has taken me into other disciplines of science writing, which has allowed me to become more familiar and learn about many other areas of the analytical sciences. I’ve had a wonderful relationship with all the editorial communities I’ve interacted with over this time and almost 25 years later, I’m still writing for the magazine, and still actively contributing to the field of trace element analysis. I’m very proud of the fact that I have personally authored or co-authored 133 publications in the open literature (22) and been responsible for bringing another 23 articles into the public domain from my quarterly “Atomic Perspectives” column (8). I’m very honored that the Spectroscopy editorial team has asked me to be a guest editor of the special ICP-MS supplement in the September issue. I am currently collaborating with the user community to bring you a series educational articles around the theme, “Practical Tips and Guidelines to Improve your ICP-MS Analytical Methodology,”which will include contributions on sample prep, cone maintenance, sample introduction, contamination issues, and the instrumental procedure. I will also put together a brief introductory article on the development and commercialization of ICP-MS. I look forward to bringing this special issue to you in a few months.

About the Column Editor

Robert (Rob) Thomas is the principal scientist of Scientific Solutions, a consulting company that serves the educational needs of the trace element user community. He has worked in the field of atomic and mass spectroscopy for more than 50 years, including 24 years for a manufacturer of atomic spectroscopic instrumentation. Rob is the Atomic Perspectives column editor of Spectroscopy Magazine and also serves on the editorial advisory board of Technology Networks. He is also Assistant Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Dakota. Rob has written over 130 technical publications, including a 15-part tutorial series on ICP-MS, and authored 6 textbooks on the fundamental principles and applications of ICP-MS. His most recent book is entitled, Practical Guide to ICP-MS and Other Atomic Spectroscopy Techniques: A Tutorial for Beginners. Rob has an advanced degree in analytical chemistry from the University of Wales, UK, and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and a Chartered Chemist (CChem). ●