Dr Court Sandau
Dr. Sandau is the principal and senior chemist at Chemistry Matters Inc (CMI). CMI is a niche forensic and chemistry litigation firm. Dr. Sandau has worked on arson investigations and conducted ignitable liquid residue (ILR) analysis and interpretation since 2011 working on some of the largest fire investigations in Canadian history.
Since 2015, Dr. Sandau and Chemistry Matters have provided analysis and interpretation of ILR for fire debris samples. These samples have come from investigations conducted by various private and public entities such as the Government of Alberta Office of the Fire Commissioner and Wildfire Service, the BC Wildfire Service, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Calgary Police Service, the Calgary Fire Department, as well as various insurance companies and independent investigation companies.
Dr. Sandau has been involved in over 250 arson investigations which involved thousands of samples for wildfires, vehicle fires, and structural fires (residential and commercial). Dr. Sandau has pioneered the use of advanced analytical techniques such as GCxGC-TOFMS for use in arson investigations with data that has been accepted in the courtroom for successful prosecutions.
Dr. Sandau continues to research and develop new approaches to ignitable liquid residue analysis through graduate students and his adjunct professor status at Mount Royal University. Dr. Sandau regularly lectures at conferences and provides training seminars for fire investigation professionals.
Since 2015, Dr. Sandau and Chemistry Matters have provided analysis and interpretation of ILR for fire debris samples. These samples have come from investigations conducted by various private and public entities such as the Government of Alberta Office of the Fire Commissioner and Wildfire Service, the BC Wildfire Service, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Calgary Police Service, the Calgary Fire Department, as well as various insurance companies and independent investigation companies.
Dr. Sandau has been involved in over 250 arson investigations which involved thousands of samples for wildfires, vehicle fires, and structural fires (residential and commercial). Dr. Sandau has pioneered the use of advanced analytical techniques such as GCxGC-TOFMS for use in arson investigations with data that has been accepted in the courtroom for successful prosecutions.
Dr. Sandau continues to research and develop new approaches to ignitable liquid residue analysis through graduate students and his adjunct professor status at Mount Royal University. Dr. Sandau regularly lectures at conferences and provides training seminars for fire investigation professionals.
Dr Carrie McDonough
Carrie McDonough is a chemical oceanographer and analytical chemist working at the intersection of environmental chemistry and chemical biology. She received her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and her Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (URI GSO). She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Colorado School of Mines developing high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) methods to identify and measure per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in biological samples.
The McDonough Lab at CMU investigates organic pollutants, how they are transported through the environment, where they end up, and their potential impacts on water quality, environmental quality, and human and ecosystem health. They use HRMS, ion mobility spectrometry, and other advanced analytical strategies to expand detection and deepen understanding of impacts of undiscovered and/or overlooked pollutants. McDonough’s work emphasizes the importance of evaluating bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and biological transformation of organic contaminants in environmental risk assessment.
The McDonough Lab at CMU investigates organic pollutants, how they are transported through the environment, where they end up, and their potential impacts on water quality, environmental quality, and human and ecosystem health. They use HRMS, ion mobility spectrometry, and other advanced analytical strategies to expand detection and deepen understanding of impacts of undiscovered and/or overlooked pollutants. McDonough’s work emphasizes the importance of evaluating bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and biological transformation of organic contaminants in environmental risk assessment.