Professor Heather Harris delivered a presentation at the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists (NEAFS) Annual Meeting in Atlantic City, N.J. Harris was also named the Certification Chairperson for NEAFS, which is a liaison position between NEAFS and the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC). 

The title of Harris’ presentation was “Differentiation of Cocaine Salt and Cocaine Base Using PY-GC/MS.” PY-GC/MS or pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is an instrument mainly utilized to break down samples into smaller molecules by heating them to high temperatures.

Harris used this technique to differentiate between two different forms of cocaine – salt and base – because they volatilize at different temperatures. The base form of cocaine will volatilize at a much lower temperature than the salt form, creating the potential for this method to successfully differentiate between the two. In future work, Harris can utilize the information from this project to identify specific forms of cocaine present in future GC/MS methods.