Field to Table (…of Results): Assuring Data Quality of Repetitive/Routine Monitoring Program Samples

Presented by Adrian Gonzalez, University of Tennessee
Contact Information: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), has provided analytical support to various National Parks (NPs) since the early 1990s. In 2019, UTK committed to converting what was an academic/research/grad-student-operated lab into a NELAP-accredited lab. This was done specifically to continue supporting NPs clients under a recent USDOI rule requiring publicly-funded data be generated using accredited labs. UTK successfully transitioned its laboratory operations in 2020. However… the field operations of the various long-term NP monitoring programs have not changed substantially. Numerous communications between our NELAP lab and various NP project managers regarding the impact of field operations on the ultimate quality of environmental monitoring data have been politely ignored. We suspect this silence is rooted in unwillingness to revisit and revamp what are likely decades-old field procedures (and perhaps decades-old personnel). A major point which has been communicated but goes unacknowledged is the continuation of systemic bad habits (sampling at the same locations in the same order at the same time and day of week) and outdated field methods (ignoring sample preservation). The challenge for any analyst sandwiched between indifferent clients and exacting NELAP requirements is obvious. But for UTK’s NELAP-accredited lab, this challenge is compounded by the size of the laboratory staff: N = 1. This presentation will describe some of the highs and lows of managing intractable clients performing routine, long-term environmental monitoring.