ASD Inc. Announces 2011 Goetz Award Winners

Online, December 21, 2010 (Newswire.com) - - ASD Inc. is proud to announce the Alexander Goetz Instrument Support Program award recipients for 2011. The annual program encourages novel, unconventional and/or fundamental research. The Goetz Program is co-sponsored by ASD Inc. and the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS), a member organization of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

This year seven winners, all Ph.D candidates in their respective fields, were selected for their valuable and thought-provoking research projects that apply reflectance spectroscopy to advance understanding in fields of study as diverse as wetland conservation, ancient Zapotec culture and the perfect cup of tea.

"ASD has been a leading provider of high-performance analytical instrumentation solutions used in the field and labs around the world for more than 20 years, and we encourage innovation by supporting inspired student researchers. We are passionate about advancing the field of spectroscopy, and this year's winners are testament to the virtually limitless applications for spectroscopy," said Dr. Alexander Goetz, co-founder and Chief Scientist of ASD.

Research topics and winners of the 2011 Goetz Award:

Determining components in sediment transported by China's Yellow River for better soil erosion control and water quality management using an ASD FieldSpec® HandHeld 2 spectroradiometer. -Liqin Qu, Ph.D. Candidate; Co-investigator: Xiusheng Yang, Professor, Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut.

Distinguishing tailings from non-tailing materials at inactive tailing impoundments at Arizona copper mines and monitoring effect of tailings distributed by mine stormwater on local plants using an ASD FieldSpec HandHeld 2 spectroradiometer. -Russell F. Schimmer, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.

Quantitatively mapping water components in river plumes to better identify nutrient loads and chemicals introduced into the Genesee and Niagara Rivers affecting inland waters ecosystems. -Nima Pahlevan, Ph.D. Candidate; Co-Investigator: Dr. John Schott, Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Center for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.

Gaining a better understanding of the impact of economic and urban development on the mangrove wetlands of Florida's Everglades by monitoring hydrogeochemical interactions using field spectroscopy and remote sensing. -David Lagomasino, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida.

Providing archaeologists new insight into the ancient Zapotec civilization of Oaxaca, Mexico using an ASD FieldSpec 3 to identify the relationship of a site's ground material spectra to the hyperspectral imagery. -Kelly Canham, Ph.D. Candidate; Co-investigators: Dr. William Middleton and Dr. David Messinger, Imaging Science within the Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.

Evaluating a faster, non-destructive method for determining tea quality using an ASD FieldSpec 3 spectrometer. -Luyan Ji, Ph.D Candidate, Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Science, and Dan Zhu, master degree candidate, Tea institute, Zhejiang University, China.

Assessing the stress on coniferous vegetation caused by natural and man-induced factors in Bulgaria's Vitosha National Park using field and spaceborne multispectural and hyperspectral HandHeld spectroradiometers. -Lachezar Filchev, Ph.D. Candidate, Space and Solar-Terrestrial Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, (SSTRI-BAS), Sofia, Bulgaria.

For these student researchers, access to the most advanced spectroscopy tools is essential. The Goetz Program provides ASD field instruments including the FieldSpec® 3 and FieldSpec® HandHeld and HandHeld 2 to up to 10 recipients each year. Now in its fifth year, the Instrument Support Program offers temporary use of ASD field instruments for students in graduate-level research programs affiliated with an accredited University in the U.S. or any country that accepts Carnet shipping documentation. Additionally, recipients are eligible to receive up to $500 (USD) toward publication charges for resulting findings if accepted for publication in a recognized journal, and/or toward reimbursement of travel and production charges for presentations accepted at an approved scientific conference.

About ASD
Established in 1990 in Boulder, ASD Inc. is the global leader in high-performance analytical instrumentation solutions, solving some of the most challenging real-world materials measurement problems. ASD spectrometers - unparalleled in providing laboratory-grade results in the field or on-site - are the instruments of choice for remote sensing, environmental sciences, agricultural, mining, pharmaceutical and pulp and paper industry applications, where results drive paradigm-changing insights, efficiency and profit. ASD's collaborative culture and world-class customer service put the best, fastest and most accurate spectroscopic instruments to work for industry and science in more than 70 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.asdi.com.

CONTACT: Julie Jensen, Metzger Associates, 720-833-5922 [email protected]