Howard Weinberg

Research:
Publications
Research Group
Active Research
Completed Research
On the Web
Available Positions

Courses:
ENVR 400
ENVR 411
ENVR 691-096
ENVR 724
ENVR 726

Of Interest:
For Prospective Students
Instruments
 Environmental Sci and Eng
UNC Chapel Hill

Weinberg Research Group Guidelines

Laboratories
Office
Laboratory Safety
Courses and Training
Student Support
Personnel Structure
Research Meetings
Progress Reports
Library Research
Additional Software Needs
Laboratory Documentation
Ordering Supplies
State Car
Keys

Laboratories

General
(i) Cupboards and drawers are designated for instrument or specific project supplies. Do not use materials that are not designated for your use unless you obtain permission from the primary user.

(ii) Bench space must be kept clear and clean at the end of a day's use. Replace old bench paper with clean paper at the end of your work. If anything needs to be left out overnight either on the bench or in the hood, please label with your name and date and intended duration of storage.

(iii) When first opening new solvent bottles or chemicals, date and sign the label. Seal with Teflon tape during storage.

(iv) Each instrument user is to learn the procedure for ordering, handling, and logging-in use of gas cylinders.  Each person who uses the instruments is responsible for the delivery and pickup of their gas cylinders. Learn the procedure for ordering, logging-in, and calling for pickup of cylinders before using an instrument

(v) Lab doors are to be closed when there is no-one working inside. They are to be locked when not in use and after 5:00 p.m. The doors to the lab in room 125 must always be locked even if you are inside.

Room 125 - Primary instrumentation lab

  • instrumentation on left, middle 2 benches for wet chemistry, right bench and hood space for our research
  • 2 Hewlett-Packard GCs, both with ECDs and one with FID
  • Varian Saturn 2200 GC/Ion Trap
  • Varian 1200 LC/MS
  • Hewlett Packard LC 1050 with PDA and fluorescence detector
  • Zymark Turbovap
  • Drying oven for glassware only
  • 10% nitric acid wash bath
  • solvent storage cabinet for organic solvents
  • refrigerator for organic compounds only
  • freezer for storage of standards
  • 2 fridges for storage of aqueous samples only
  • hoods

Waste solvents can be stored in labeled vessels under hood in secondary containment. When the containers area full, go to https://www-s3.ais.unc.edu/HazMat_Pickup/ and fill out a waste pickup form. Health and Safety will e-mail you a URL which you must print out and tape to the waste bottle. They will come by and pick them up. Each vessel should be labeled for a specific solvent and only used for waste of that particular solvent. You must write out the full name of the chemical without abbreviations. (i.e.: Methyl tert-Butyl Ether not MtBE) If the waste you add to the vessel contains traces of other materials be certain to add their names to the list of contents on the bottle's label. You are responsible for filling out the waste form as you fill up waste bottles.

Fridge inventory must be maintained.  There is a spreadsheet of all of our chemicals at H:\hsw_lab\inventory.xls. If you need a chemical and you are not sure if we have it or where it is, look on this spreadsheet. Also, if you order chemicals, update the spreadsheet with the new information.

Room 129

  • Houses the instruments GC-MSD and GC/micro-ECD (Hewlett-Packard Model 6890).
  • Bench-space for preparation of organic standards and reactions-to be cleared after-use.
  • Cabinets above GC/ECD for organic chemicals only (not toxic or those requiring refrigeration).
  • Research materials to be stored in cupboards.
  • Organic solvents to be stored under hood.
  • Inventory of chemicals and solvents to be maintained as described for Room 125.
  • Logbook for gas cylinders stored behind GC/ECD.

Room 103

  • Houses TOX analyzer, pH meters, Varian Ion trap, and weighing balance.
  • Bench-space to be used for extractions and sample preparation for organics.
  • Bench-space to be kept dust-free and orderly. If materials to be temporarily stored on bench surface, label with name and date.
  • Inorganic acids are stored under the TOX analyzer and should be maintained in the inventory.
  • Gas cylinders to be monitored daily by designated instrument users.

Room 108

  • Houses the Ion chromatograph (IC) and Waters 616 LC with PDA detector.
  • The refrigerator is strictly for aqueous samples only.
  • The inorganics inventory should be maintained described for room 125.

WWRC

  • Lab L03 houses the Shimadzu Total Organic Carbon Analyzer. Vials for the instrument's autosampler are located in that room and are acid-washed. After use they must be similarly prepared and dried. Contact Lauren Weinrich (Lab Manager) if you wish to use that instrument (966-1706).

Office

Room 103a provides 4 student office spaces with 3 network-linked computers primarily designated for students on the Ph.D. track or beyond!

Although a student's assigned space may also house a computer, the computer is a shared resource and cannot be used solely for that student's need. To facilitate shared use, each of the computers is linked to the other allowing previously stored work on one computer to be accessed from one of the others. Room 12 has 5 desks designated primarily for students on the MS track or similar.

Office doors must be closed during the day when no-one is present inside. Valuables and personal items must be stored securely. If an office is to be left vacant for some time, and at all times after 6:00 p.m., it should be locked.

Use of Computers

Primary use is for research related activities.

For course-work related use, the primary school facility is the computer-lab on the 2nd floor of McGavran-Greenberg. However, provided that at least one of the computers is not in use you may use a computer for your academic work as long as you have the permission of the desk's regular occupant. If you do use a computer for non-research needs, you must give up use if a member of the group requires computer access for research. For security purposes, the "hswgroup" has its own password which can be supplied by the lab manager or PI. This password must not be revealed to anyone outside the group. At the end of your work, you are required to log off. Computers found connected to the network with no active use, and particularly at the end of the day, will be quarantined and not reconnected until the source of security breach is identified.  Ensure that monitors have active screensavers. Under no circumstances can computer use and access be given to anyone outside of the research group.

Use of the world-wide-web for other than research falls into the above category of personal pursuits.

Use of printers

Laser printers are available in most labs and offices for research related activities. These printers and their supplies are paid for exclusively from research contracts and cannot, therefore, be used for personal activities (including classwork). For class-related activities, a printer is available in the computer room on the 2nd floor of McGavran-Greenberg. Each printer has a network address and is password protected enabling access remotely. If printing quality deteriorates or if there are other problems with output, please learn the procedures for ordering replacement supplies. Troubleshooting of errors is an integral skill developed in this group. Each member is expected to undertake this as a part of their contribution to the overall cooperative climate of the group.

Use of telephones

Calls made to Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Cary, and Durham are now all considered local calls. You need only dial 9 (to get an outside line) followed by the 7-digit number and do not need to record the call on the blue log sheet. Local calls of a personal nature should be brief during the day so that the telephone is available for others. If others are in the office, please conduct telephone business quietly.

Long-distance calls are to be recorded on the blue log sheet before they are dialed (i.e. whether you think the call has gone through or not). Charge personal calls directly to your credit or phone card; otherwise, indicate the grant number associated with the call. The somewhat archaic telephone system automatically charges the first minute if the recipient's phone rings 5 times or more. You cannot necessarily disconnect before the 5th ring by assuming that what you hear is what actually rings (hence the need to record all calls). Use toll-free numbers where possible.

Use of personal cellular phones for personal activities should be made away from work and desk areas so as not to disturb others. Such phones should not be used in labs and should be stored away from lab surfaces.

Use of Sink

The sink area in room 103 is used for food preparation and the like and should, therefore, be kept clean. Please take turns to put bleach down the sink once a week and to wash the sides around the sink. Do not consume food or drink in any lab area.

General Use of Office

With a large number of occupants performing a variety of duties, you are asked to ensure that your particular activity is not a disturbance to the others. I ask that you respect each other's space by not hesitating to ask if your particular activity is a disturbance to others. With this in mind, do not use this space for socializing with others outside the research group. Similarly, the computers are not for use by anyone outside the research group. If you have visitors and others are working, please meet with them away from the office.

Keep the lab and office doors closed if you or any other member of the group is not working in the room. Even if you are alone and working in the office, the appearance of someone without warning can be somewhat disturbing.  During the hours before 8:00 a.m., after 5:00 p.m. or on weekends, keep the doors closed when you are working in the office.

Keep the lab and office doors locked if no one is present inside.

Do not work in the labs after 6:00 p.m. or on weekends without first ensuring the presence of someone else in the research group or by identifying someone else on the first floor of Rosenau whom you can contact in emergency (try the research groups of Drs. Aitken or Pfaender). 

Laboratory Safety

Each new student/lab worker is required to take the lab safety module and successfully past the post-module test. This can now be done on-line. You will need to take and pass this test before you can begin work in the lab. Please let me know when you have performed this task. An annual lab orientation will be given to the group soon after the beginning of the semester. Our lab safety manual is located on the cabinet surface next to the weighing balance in Rosenau room 103. Please refer to the manual if you have questions regarding chemical compatibility and issues related to the use of chemicals and labware.

Courses and Training

All members of the group are expected to register for the Laboratory Techniques and Field Measurements class (ENVR 411) in their first semester here if they have no prior industrial or relevant research experience beyond undergraduate studies. Similarly, you should register for the Instrumental Methods class (ENVR 726) in the first spring semester it is held after your arrival here. Other lab personnel will be invited to participate in components of the course relevant to their activities. Since this course is designed around the activities of the Weinberg research group, students are expected to perform and achieve at their highest level in this class. This, of course, does not preclude students from performing similarly in other classes!

New personnel and students will be trained on the instrumentation they are to use in their research and will be expected to generate appropriate calibration data and meet other criteria before using the instrumentation independently.

Student Support

I am committed to provide financial support for students in my research group provided the following criteria are met:
  1. United States nationals must begin the process of qualifying for tuition at the instate rate from their first semester of registration. Mr. C.L. Lassiter can provide further information on this issue (* - see below)
  2. registering for a minimum of 9 academic credits in each semester until the required number are achieved
  3. attending the in-house seminar (ENVR 103) and Unifying Concepts class (ENVR 104) as required by departmental policy
  4. achieving the provided research goals with regular reports and feedback
  5. participation in relevant departmental seminars and active participation in group meetings and discussions
  6. willingness to acquire additional skills that will benefit your career (e.g. electronic database searching, web-page design etc.)
  7. recognition of frustration associated with research and a willingness to discuss any impacts this and other activities might have on your progress before detected by the advisor
  8. finding the correct balance for fulfillment of both research and academic requirements during the first semester and maintaining throughout student's tenure
  9. evolving ideas for career goals during the first 3 semesters
  10. willingness to interact with students and faculty in other research groups
  11. providing clear evidence that degree fulfillments will be completed in no more than
    1. 2 years for a Masters degree
    2. 4 years for a Ph.D.
    If unforeseen circumstances beyond the immediate control of the student require an extension beyond the 4th year for a doctoral student, there is no commitment from this research group that financial support would be available.
* Regarding tuition; until August 1998, students were required to pay tuition and fees from their stipend. As an added benefit to remuneration, each research group was given the option to pay tuition at the instate rate beginning in 1999. This research group willingly supports and provides this benefit provided all the above criteria are met. Those students unable to secure a tuition remission/waiver or otherwise qualify for the instate rate will be required to pay the difference between the instate and out-of-state rates from their own resources after their first year with the research group if they have not made every effort to meet the criteria. Mr. Lassiter can provide further information on the options available to you. 

Personnel Structure

 


Although Weinberg will oversee all operations of the research group, day-to day operational issues should always be directed through the appropriate personnel on line 1 in the above scheme. Dan Gatti will attempt to resolve most issues associated with instrumentation and lab-scale research. For those instruments with service contracts or warranties (currently the Varian Ion Trap GC/MS and LC/MS in room 125, operational problems should be directed to the manufacturer's personnel. Each student is also to take responsibility for the materials they use and order. Recommendations for specific purchases can be obtained by discussing with other members of the group and with other groups.

Individual research related meetings will be held with the PI only by appointment. This may be possible on the same day but please limit these requests to email and not by knocking on my door unless it is an emergency. At the beginning of the semester, a regular scheduled meeting time with each group member will be planned. 

Research Meetings

The more restricted access to the PI will be compensated for by a scheduling of regular research group meetings. These will take place as follows:
  1. General meetings to discuss operational issues and activities of common interest and concern. Brief review of activities will be given along with relevant announcements. These will be held weekly on Friday afternoons after the in-house seminar or at 4 p.m. on days when seminar is not held. These meetings are cancelled during official holidays and other formally announced activities.
  2. Research presentations: These will be held every 2 weeks (time and day to be announced) and will rotate between individual and joint research group meetings. The general meeting in (1) above will precede the presentation when held. Each active researcher in the research group will be expected to present a 30 to 40-minute review of their research progress at least once a semester. The content of this presentation will be discussed well in advance with the PI.
  3. Peer-review of Research Publication: In the fall semester, group members in their 2nd year are expected to enroll in ENVR 724, a journal club. Others are encouraged to attend as their schedules permit. A selected credible paper from the current literature is shared with the participants, each one of which is expected to critically review and actively participate in a discussion to further the collective research, critique, and investigative skills while widening the student's field of view.
  4. Individual Student Meetings: These will be held as needed and by appointment. The intention is that an academic review meeting will be held at the beginning and end of each semester. Research reviews will be scheduled to conform to the time allotment for specific goals and accomplishments to be achieved. For those students who have finished their academic requirements, such meetings will be held once every 2 weeks. For all others, individualized meetings will be held approximately once every 3 weeks.
  5. Committee Meetings: Each student is expected to put together a committee of faculty to assist in the review of their research. For a Ph.D. student (5 members minimum), this should take place before the end of their first semester. For a Masters level student, 3 members are required but the time of selection depends on the research project and available expertise among the pool of potential members. Each student will meet with his/her committee once each semester prior to graduation.

Progress Reports

Each student is to keep an organized, well-structured, and tidy lab book which records all the details of their experimentation, dated and signed. All data generated should be tabulated and graphed as appropriate very soon after collection. Each experiment should then be summarized electronically with text, figures, tables etc. and stored on a labelled CD. Use software that doesn't close the CD and that will allow you to subsequently add new data files. If an instrument computer does not have a CD writer, save to zip disc and then subsequently copy to CD using one of our pool's writers. Data and methods on instrument hard discs should be backed up in this way at least once every 2 weeks. Please delete data more than 8 weeks old from instrument hard discs.

Library Research

Each student and researcher is expected to become acquainted with the resources of the chemistry and health sciences library, particularly in reference to electronic databases and reference material. Identify all the journals relevant to your area of research and use the email alert systems of UNCover and Contents Direct to provide weekly/monthly tables of contents. Keep a logbook that tracks each new issue of the journal and then collect and read relevant journal papers. Build your own bibliography (using Endnote) and alert the PI to any particular papers that are exceptional. The group keeps a library photocopy card which must be stored in a central place and returned there immediately after use (not for personal use). Build yourself bookmarks for all the electronic versions of relevant journals many of which you can access from your desktop and print the journal papers at your desk. Become proficient in the use of relevant databases associated with research such as Medline, Beilstein, SciFinder and others, available from the Health Sciences Library. 

Additional Software Needs

Become proficient with the instrument software that you use and be certain that you can import data from the instrument to your office desktop and from there into electronic documents that form the basis of your reports. In addition, if relevant, learn the software that permits reading of spectral data (NMR and MS). All students should build their own End-Note citation index and become familiar with writing web-pages in html format. Ultimately, we will want to put together webpages describing the groups' research. Computer supplies for research may be purchased as needed but consolidate such purchases through Dr. Jayaraj. 

Laboratory Documentation

For each method that is developed and routinely used, a Standard operating procedure (SOP) needs to be written up that includes all aspects of quality assurance and control (QA/QC). 

Ordering Supplies

Catalogues are located on the shelves above the sink in Room 103a. Consolidate all the catalogues in this location to maximize shelf-space above the desks in the office. Keep in alphabetical order. Deposit old catalogues in the nearest glossy recycle container. Transfer any handwritten ordering material (e.g. account numbers) from the old to the new catalogues. If you are placing an order but do not have the account number, obtain this from the sales agent and write it into the front page of the catalogue. Orders must be written into the order book on the right hand shelf in room 103.

Use of PCard:
Effective August 17, 2004, PCard purchasing will use the PCard held by Dr Weinberg. Before requesting the card, obtain a fax or email quotation from the supplier that gives the exact price including shipping and handling with discounts included. Please present a copy of this quotation to Dr Weinberg when borrowing the PCard. When placing your order, as with all orders, fill in the details in the order book. After placing your order return the PCard immediately. You should only use the PCards from faculty assistants if Dr Weinberg is out of the office. When you receive the goods please mark that goods were received as requested, sign and date, copy the packing slip and give to Dr Weinberg. Keep the original in your own order folder. Do the same if and when an invoice or receipts arrives.

State contracts with vendors provide substantial but inconsistent discounts. Principle current contracts are with VWR, Fisher Scientific and Sigma-Aldrich. Start with them when shopping around but ensure comparison of like size and quality.
A complete listing of contracts by category area is given at http://www.doa.state.nc.us/PandC/categ3.htm.
Ask for all price "add-ons" to be stated when requesting your price and include this information (or a statement indicating the absence of such charges) on your order form. Before making purchases make certain that do not have the item in our inventory. If you just require a small amount of chemical or borrowed glassware for a short time, consult with Glen Walters (Aitken research group) or Dan Gatti (WWRC).
For orders under $250, obtain a credit card from Donna or Deb in room 104. When placing your first order ask one of the existing lab personnel in the research group for guidance.
For non-routine purchases or items over $250, please consult with the PI.

Gas cylinders: order from Scientific Storeroom (tel. # 843-6857).
Our routine cylinders are as follows:
 
 
Gas Item #
Ultra high purity (UHP or 99.999%) nitrogen SG62750
UHP helium SG62350
Regular nitrogen (for ion-trap autosampler) SG62700
Nitrogen Dewar for LC/MS
Carbon dioxide with syphon tube for ion trap)		 SG61200
Carbon dioxide for TOX analyzer SG61300
Air SG60700
Oxygen (for TOX analyzer) SG63350
Argon SG60900
Methane has to be special ordered 
from the State Contractor

Before ordering cylinders, check with the group and look on the board on room 103 to see if any empties need to be returned. We pay demurrage each day a tank is in our possession. When a cylinder is empty, write its number and location on the board in room 103. The Scientific Storeroom has asked that we only call in empty cylinders to be picked up when we are also ordering full ones. Please try to honor this request. When you call in a cylinder for pickup, tell them to deliver it to the cylinder rack outside of room 157. Bring your empties there when they are ready to be picked up. Do not buy tanks until close to the time that you need them and return as soon after use as possible. If empties are not collected within 48 hours of being called-in, try again, and again. If after 3 attempts they still remain, call and complain to A.B. Taylor, manager of the scientific storeroom. Upon delivery, ensure that the cylinders are anchored. Do not disassemble existing tank or connect new tank unless you have been trained to do so. Each instrument requires a different procedure.

Chemistry and Scientific Storeroom: some solvents and routine labware can be purchased using an account number by either ordering over the telephone with delivery in 2-3 days or, in the case of the chemistry storeroom, walking over to Venable Hall (room 454A) and picking up. In either case, their stock is listed at https://www-s1.adp.unc.edu/msd/catalog.html. Visits to Office Supplies and Scientific storeroom require use of a state car.

State Car

Before you can use a vehicle belonging to the University, you need to provide Donna Simmons in room 104 with a copy of your North Carolina Driving license. You will then be given the instructions and conditions for using the vehicles.

Keys

Each member of the research group should obtain a key for each of the following rooms: Rosenau Room # 103, 108, 125, Baity, WWRC.

These may be obtained from Lois Harper in room 2304 McGavran-Greenberg. Dr. Weinberg must e-mail her first to request the keys and she will let us know when they are ready. You will be asked for a $5 to be held against all the keys that you will hold. You will need to return all keys to Lois to receive your deposit back and to permit graduation from ESE.