Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Because of recent news stories, I became interested in measuring how much caffeine there is in different kinds of energy drinks. I've been told that HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) is the best way to do this. I live in Contra Costa county (San Francisco Bay area); can you recommend any local labs or universities with HPLC capability that might have educational outreach programs for high school students that could support this type of testing? Or can you recommend an affordable commercial service for HPLC analysis?

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Sarah,

While I do not have any direct knowledge about which labs might be able to help you, I can recommend that you start contacting local universities and community colleges (all of which are plentiful in the Bay area) yourself.

Here are some tips for contacting a mentor: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... tors.shtml

I recommend looking online for local labs that might utilize HPLC in their research. Look everywhere from UCSF to Stanford to San Francisco State, DeAnza College, Santa Clara University, San Jose State, UC Berkeley, etc. I think UCSF utilizes HPLC in their research, but the professors there are incredibly busy because it is a top-ranked medical school.

I hope this helps you get started. Please post again (in this same thread) if you have more questions along the way.

Best,
Heather