Kirby Hobbs

Chemist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Kirby Hobbs is an analytical chemist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with a primary focus on developing mass spectrometry methods for the characterization of materials relevant to nuclear sciences. Prior to PNNL, Kirby completed his MSc at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he studied mantle rocks from Vietnam. During this work, he developed his analytical skills by measuring a suite of major/trace elements and radiogenic isotopes across the periodic table using a variety of spectrometry instruments. After obtaining his degree, he started at PNNL developing mass spectrometry methods for ultra-low background measurements of U, Th and K in materials used for rare-event physics detectors. Kirby is experienced with a variety of analysis techniques, specializing in instruments that utilize gas phase ion chemistry to make interference-free measurements.