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Thursday 13th October – 4pm AEDT
Online
04.00PM – Magic Mike – His magic rocks
04.10PM – Jessica Hamilton – What can a Synchrotron do for Earth Science?
04.50PM – Happy Hour – Q&A + Networking
Synchrotron light is about a million times brighter than the sun. We use it to detect and treat cancer, develop advanced materials for energy storage, and ‘see’ through paintings to discover older artworks underneath – without damaging a fleck of paint. But what can it do for earth scientists?
Jessica Hamilton, ANSTO
Dr Jessica Hamilton is a beamline scientist at the Australian Synchrotron’s X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) beamline. The Synchrotron is a particle accelerator which produces extremely powerful light that is used by a range of analytical techniques. For example, X-rays are used to measure the chemistry of elements, including their oxidation state and how they are bonded to nearest neighbour atoms. X-rays are also used to create high resolution maps of elemental distribution and chemistry, and to detect trace minerals that cannot be found using conventional methods.
Dr Hamilton uses these advanced analytical techniques to understand geochemical processes in mine tailings as they weather or as they are subject to various treatments. In particular, her research focusses on utilising ultramafic tailings for carbon capture and critical metal recovery. She completed her PhD in 2018 at Monash University in environmental geochemistry and mineralogy, with her thesis investigating the fate of transition metals during mineral carbonation of mine tailings. Her research has attracted awards and grants including from the Mineralogical Society of America, Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain & Ireland, and in 2020, Jessica was the Australian Winner of the Falling Walls Lab for innovative ideas. Jessica is also the President of the Australian X-ray Analytical Association (AXAA) which represents the national X-ray and neutron science community.
