This Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer is similar to the one used in Zumberge’s lab for separating, identifying and quantifying biomarkers in crude oils. Credit: Wikimedia/Polimerek
Chemists play a role in developing all energy sources, not just petroleum and natural gas, Zumberge notes. For instance, solar energy requires people with knowledge of chemistry and physics, and the development of biofuels, such as alcohol fuels, needs chemists who also know about biology and agriculture. “But oil and gas are still going to be our major transportation fuels for a long time to come,” he says.
Power Words (adapted from the Merriam-Webster online student dictionary)
alchemy A medieval chemical science with the goals of changing less valuable metals into gold, discovering a single cure for all diseases and discovering how to live forever.
analytical chemistry A field that focuses on ways to separate materials into their parts or elements.
chemistry A science that deals with the composition, structure and properties of substances and with the changes that they go through.
chromatography Separation and detection of chemical compounds as a result of their having traveled at different rates according to their different attractions to the matter that carries them (such as a flowing liquid or gas).
climate change Long-term, significant change in the climate on Earth. It can happen naturally or in response to human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests.
fossil A trace or print of the remains of a plant or animal from a past age preserved in earth or rock.
fossil fuel A fuel (as coal, oil or natural gas) that is formed in the Earth from bacteria, plant or animal remains.
geochemistry A science that deals with the chemical composition of and chemical changes in the solid material of Earth or of another celestial body (such as the moon or Mars).
sediment Material (such as stones and sand) deposited by water, wind or glaciers.
synthesis The production of a substance by the combining of simpler chemical building blocks.