David Walsh | Authors

The LCGC Awards have now been in existence since 2008, and with several years of award winners now active in the chromatography community, it is fair to say that we now have a reasonable track record and body of work to review in measuring the impact these awards have had, both on the industry and on the winners themselves.

The tragic Gulf Oil Spill, which has gripped the nation's collective consciousness for most of the summer, is only now beginning to turn the corner toward a long, slow recovery.

For some time now, readers have probably noticed the green "Chromacademy" logo at the end of their favorite columns and research articles here in the print issue of LCGC North America.

Welcome to the first global edition of The Column. This issue sees a merger with The Peak from LC–GC North America to create one global digital magazine.

With May's ASMS Conference now receding in the collective rearview mirror of the industry, the summer is as good a time as any to take stock of the analytical chemistry marketplace. This year's show, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, demonstrated once again the vitality and robustness of the field of mass spectrometry, as innovation and technological advancement were in evidence everywhere you looked.

For anyone who makes his or her living in the field of analytical chemistry, and more specifically, in the fields of chromatography or spectroscopy, the debate concerning the state of the conference industry is well known to say the least.