Dr. Marco Bonizzoni and former graduate student Dr. Michael Ihde along with collaborators at the University of Southner Mississippi have developed a simple analytical method for detecting trace concentrations of heavy metal pollutants. The method allows analysis to be done at the source, rather than requiring transporting samples to a lab. The method was validated using samples taken from the site of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The findings were recently published in Advanced Functional Materials. This work is part of a NSF-funded collaboration between UA and Southern Mississippi to develop methods for analyzing for pollutants in the Gulf of Mexico.