Richard (Rick) Russo

Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California, USA.

Why analytical science?
The laser! I was an undergraduate student trying to decide a major when I was fortunate enough to see a laser in operation. It was in an analytical spectroscopy lab, so I did what it took to become an analytical spectroscopist.

Most important lesson
When you want to move ahead “outside the box”, the system is likely to say no. Better to ask for forgiveness than approval!

The next big breakthrough in spectroscopy
I see a significantly growing interest in biomedical imaging and the use of hyphenated technologies like LA-ICP-MS/LIBS/LAMIS for measuring every element/isotope in a sample, with spatial resolution.

Part of the Power List 2017

The Magnificent Tens
After 2016’s celebration of women in analytical science, we return to the Top 100 for 2017.
But there’s a twist. This summer, we asked you to nominate scientists in ten categories – from the stars of separation science, to omics explorers, to the mentors training the next generation.

Go to The Power List 2017