EPMA Events (Meetings, Workshops, Seminars...)

[Probeman]

So there are a ton of on-line presentations for the virtual M&M meeting:

https://www.microscopy.org/MandM/2020/program/PlatformPresentations.pdf

Is anyone interested in sharing a short list of sessions specifically related to EPMA?

[jrminter]

They really have them stacked up with lots of overlapping sessions. That is typical. I wanted a quick guide to the microanalysis sessions so I made a text file with times, names, and titles. I plan to enter notes as I watch... In case this will help others, I am attaching my list. IMHO it is way past time for the society to record these (with author approval) and put them on YouTube after the conference is over.

[Probeman]

They really have them stacked up with lots of overlapping sessions. That is typical. I wanted a quick guide to the microanalysis sessions so I made a text file with times, names, and titles. I plan to enter notes as I watch... In case this will help others, I am attaching my list. IMHO it is way past time for the society to record these (with author approval) and put them on YouTube after the conference is over.

Hi John,
Thank-you so much for this.

And yes I agree, these talks should be recorded (with presenter permission) and available for subsequent viewing.
john

[Probeman]

The first microanalysis talk starts at 11:30 AM PDT this morning with a talk by Will Nachlas.

https://www.microscopy.org/MandM/2020/

[Probeman]

The first microanalysis talk starts at 11:30 AM PDT this morning with a talk by Will Nachlas.

https://www.microscopy.org/MandM/2020/

I could be wrong but apparently these talks are pre-recorded and could be watched at any time within the next month.  So I'm now assuming the discussion is live with the presenter responding?

[Probeman]

The first microanalysis talk starts at 11:30 AM PDT this morning with a talk by Will Nachlas.

https://www.microscopy.org/MandM/2020/

I could be wrong but apparently these talks are pre-recorded and could be watched at any time within the next month.  So I'm now assuming the discussion is live with the presenter responding?

I think I'll watch these later as the web server seems to be rrrreeeeeallll slow.

[jrminter]

The first microanalysis talk starts at 11:30 AM PDT this morning with a talk by Will Nachlas.

https://www.microscopy.org/MandM/2020/

I could be wrong but apparently these talks are pre-recorded and could be watched at any time within the next month.  So I'm now assuming the discussion is live with the presenter responding?

I think I'll watch these later as the web server seems to be rrrreeeeeallll slow.

I'm very dissappointed. I had everything set and then get nothing but spinning bars...

[JonF]

Can't say I've been overly impressed with the live digital platform either. But taking this year online has meant a significant price drop that has made it possible for me to "attend" in the first place, so I shouldn't complain!

The pre-recorded talks I've watched have been ok, but the plenary talks were terrible: just stuttering video and audio that meant it was impossible to follow.

 

[jrminter]

I should note that the streaming improved later in the week. I suspect the technical staff were fixing the glitches. It has been years since I could afford to attend in person. I hope that MSA makes a virtual option available in future years. I like watching the presentations from my easy chair and can pause them to get a break.

[Probeman]

Those who saw the presentations by John Fournelle and Emma Bullock at M&M this week and were intrigued with how large an effect these "missing elements" had on the matrix correction of the other elements, might want to look through this topic here:

https://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=92.0

which discusses many of these effects in more detail. I have to admit some of the magnitudes of these "missing element" matrix effects certainly surprised me!   

Also here is a discussion on calculating excess oxygen from ferric iron using the method of Droop and including it in the matrix correction which Emma presented using Probe for EPMA, but instead using the free CalcZAF software:

https://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=691.msg8592#msg8592

[Juvegre]

Dear colleagues,

We would like to draw your attention to the 2nd International 5-day VIRTUAL Workshop on EPMA developments and applications (Monday 5th – Friday 9th April, 2021 (provisionally 2PM - 6PM; all times in Eastern European Time; UTC+2).   

Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) is commonly used to analyze the composition of solid geological materials to help answer a wide range of fundamental questions in geological and planetary sciences. The goal of this 5-day short course is to educate undergraduates, graduates, and early career researchers in the theory and practice of EPMA, with a specific focus on its application to geochemistry. This will be achieved through a set of online lectures covering topics ranging from conventional major element quantitative analysis to new developments in X-ray mapping, trace element analysis, measuring oxidation state and water content of hydrous glasses, and characterizing meteorites. A poster presentation from participants on the first day using Gather.Town will help participants get to know each other and highlight topics of interest for the rest of the course. 

Additionally, participants will have the option to acquire days of hands-on data on the EPMA housed at our lab (Laboratory of Mineralogy and Geology; Agricultural University of Athens) at a reduced price.


For more details go to: https://ibaziotis7.wixsite.com/epmaathens2021.
Register here: https://forms.gle/FUP6t6y2W6pncosu5.


We apologize for multiple postings.


On behalf of the EPMA workshop committee,


Best Regards.

Baziotis Ioannis

[John Donovan]

I see that GSA Portland is October 10-13 this year:

https://community.geosociety.org/gsa2021/home

I'm hoping that I (and everyone else) will be vaccinated by then so we can meet in person once again. But my question is: when does the abstract submission period begin for GSA?  I am hoping to be able to present something that the geologists might be interested in.

Edit: OK I see the abstract date starts June 1st.

[John Donovan]

As many of you know the Athens EPMA virtual workshop hosted by Ioannis Baziotis from April 5 - 9 will include a number of sessions, including one offered by "yours truly".   

There will be a 45 min presentation followed by a 45 min technical workshop where I will demonstrate with the attendees how one can perform quantitative corrections to x-ray map pixels using the Probe for EPMA and CalcImage software packages.

To allow the attendees to follow along with these calculations, they will need to download the CalcZAF and Probe for EPMA (which includes CalcImage) software packages and install them on their computers ahead of time. Ioannis Baziotis will provide download instructions for all attendees before the workshop begins.

Also, all attendees should download the sample data sets we will be working with, which includes a silicate map, an alloy map, a sulfide map and a zircon map. These files are attached below (login to see attachments).

Once you have downloaded and installed the CalcZAF and Probe for EPMA software, you should run Probe for EPMA and it will create a number of folders and configure itself automatically. Two folders it will create are:

C:\UserData

and

C:\UserImages

After these folders are created by running the software, one can download the attached ZIP files below (you need to login to the forum to see the attachments) and extract them to their respective folders. The Workshop_2021_UserData.zip should be extracted to the C:\UserData folder and the Workshop_2021_UserImages.zip should be extracted to the C:\UserImages folder.

We will utilize these sample data files to perform quantitative matrix corrections, including background and interference corrections.

[John Donovan]

For those attending the Athens 2021 EPMA workshop organized by Ioannis Baziotis from April 5 - 9, the above post provides information for obtaining the sample datasets we will be using for our quantitative X-ray map calculations.

However, the ZIP files attached to the above post are in JEOL stage coordinates (mm), so for those who would prefer to see the stage coordinates in Cameca units (um), I have attached a set of X-ray maps below that are in Cameca format.

[John Donovan]

As many of you know the Athens EPMA virtual workshop hosted by Ioannis Baziotis from April 5 - 9 will include a number of sessions, including one offered by "yours truly".   

There will be a 45 min presentation followed by a 45 min technical workshop where I will demonstrate with the attendees how one can perform quantitative corrections to x-ray map pixels using the Probe for EPMA and CalcImage software packages.

To allow the attendees to follow along with these calculations, they will need to download the CalcZAF and Probe for EPMA (which includes CalcImage) software packages and install them on their computers ahead of time. Ioannis Baziotis will provide download instructions for all attendees before the workshop begins.

Also, all attendees should download the sample data sets we will be working with, which includes a silicate map, an alloy map, a sulfide map and a zircon map. These files are attached below (login to see attachments).

Once you have downloaded and installed the CalcZAF and Probe for EPMA software, you should run Probe for EPMA and it will create a number of folders and configure itself automatically. Two folders it will create are:

C:\UserData

and

C:\UserImages

After these folders are created by running the software, one can download the attached ZIP files below (you need to login to the forum to see the attachments) and extract them to their respective folders. The Workshop_2021_UserData.zip should be extracted to the C:\UserData folder and the Workshop_2021_UserImages.zip should be extracted to the C:\UserImages folder.

We will utilize these sample data files to perform quantitative matrix corrections, including background and interference corrections.

I'm bumping this post forward for those attending the Athens 2021 workshop organized by Ioannis Baziotis this week. On Friday I will be giving a demonstration of performing quantitative X-ray mapping using the sample data attached to the above post:

https://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=99.msg9721#msg9721

Please note that I replaced the Workshop_2021_UserData.zip attachment with an updated one because I had forgotten to convert the "Interference Test" and "Zircon Traces" sample data files to JEOL stage coordinates.  So if you've already downloaded this file, please download and extract it again, overwriting the older files in the C:\UserData folder.