Highlighting the Heritage Lecture Speakers for the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry

Early next year, the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry will take place in Tucson, Arizona from January 11–17, bringing together researchers and industrial professionals working with plasma-based technologies in mass spectrometry and atomic spectroscopy (1).

Organized by the International Atomic Spectroscopy Association (IASA), this meeting takes place every other year. Because the use of plasma sources in mass spectrometry and atomic spectroscopy is growing, the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry serves as a forum for researchers and industry professionals to gather and discuss the latest trends and advancements in this space. It is expected that over 500 attendees from approximately 30 countries (1,2).

Led by expert-chaired symposia, the conference will cover a wide range of topics, including sample introduction and transport, micronebulization, PFAS and fluorine detection, nanomaterial characterization, elemental speciation and metallomics, plasma instrumentation and automation, excitation mechanisms and plasma modeling, spectroscopic standards and high-purity materials, plasma-based mass spectrometry and glow discharge techniques, isotope analysis, laser-assisted plasma spectrometry, elemental imaging and mass cytometry, and other emerging plasma spectrochemical applications (1,2).

Who are the Heritage Speakers set to give talks at the Winter Conference?

Currently, there are three speakers set to give talks at the Winter Conference. The first speaker is Steve Pappas, who recently retired from working at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. He is set to deliver a talk titled, “Atomic Spectrometry at the CDC Over the Decades: Sample Prep and Instrumentation in Accredited Methods” (2). The second speaker is Alexander Scheeline, who is a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He will be delivering a lecture titled, “Sparks, Pinches, and People: A Retrospective on Transient Discharges Before LIBeration” (2). And finally, the third Heritage Lecture will be delivered by Vahid Majidi, who is a Consultant for BWXT. His lecture is titled, “Analytical Instrumentation for Common Applications: The Impact on National Policy and Politics” (2).

Other speakers include:

• Hunter B. Andrews, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• David Clases, University of Graz
• Benjamin Farcy, Goddard Space Flight Center
• Gerardo Gamez, Texas Tech University
• Bin Hu, Wuhan University
• Benjamin T. Manard, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• R. Kenneth Marcus, Clemson University
• Maria Montes-Bayon, University of Oviedo
• Patrick Parsons, New York State Department of Health
• Spiros Pergantis, University of Crete
• C. Derrick Quarles Jr., Elemental Scientific Instruments
• Martin Resano, University of Zaragoza
• Jacob Shelley, Rennsselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Vassilia Zorba, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
• Steven Ray, University at Buffalo

You can keep up to date with the latest coverage of the upcoming 2026 conference here.

References

1. Wetzel, W. Returning to Tucson: The 2026 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry. Spectroscopy. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/returning-to-tucson-the-2026-winter-conference-on-plasma-spectrochemistry (accessed 2025-11-19).
2. IASA, 2026 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry. IASA. Available at: https://iasa.world/wpc-speakers (accessed 2025-11-19).