By: Mary Jean Apuan

As part of the collaborative mineral recovery research project of Xavier University - McKeough Marine Center (XU-MMC) and Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), Dr. Teresita Perez together with her team from AdMU conducted a two-day training on sample preparations for both soil and plants on June 6-7, 2014 at the Chemistry Laboratory of Xavier University.

Participants were selected students from XU Agriculture, Chemistry and Biology who will be involved in the mineral recovery research project funded by DOST-PCIEERD. The training covered preparations of standards, stock solutions and dry ashing of samples and the use of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) for determining the concentration of copper within a sample.

The training was a form of thesis support for the students with the purpose of preparing them in the conduct of their copper hyper accumulation (phytoremediation) experiments, which are in line to the project’s objectives. Participants will also receive technical and financial supports from the project for their sample analysis.

The 3-year project is now in its second year of operation.