As one of the most extensively applied synchrotron techniques, X-ray absorp-tion fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy plays a unique role in many scientific areas. Its element specific and local structure probing capabilities make mo-lecular level understanding for both crystalline and amorphous systems pos-sible. This presentation will first present XAS facilities and capabilities specif-ic to the Hard X-ray MicroAnalysis (HXMA) beamline at the Canadian Light Source (CLS). HXMA is a wiggler-sourced hard X-ray beamline with an ener-gy coverage of 5–40 keV, which is currently the only hard X-ray EXAFS beamline available for CLS users. The presentation will further focus on the principles of XAS as well as XAS applications to bulk, surface and doped sys-tems, e.g., precursor of uranophane and selenium surface speciation. One specific example will focus on differentiating among vanadyl porphyrins in oil sands fluid petroleum coke using carefully collected data and comparison to XANES models.

The Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Presentations are also made available to remote participants through Livestream and Blue Jeans. Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.