Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Research Summary

Nate Bower has ongoing research interests in the application of analytical chemistry to questions in archaeology, art and material culture conservation, ecology, the fate and transport of chemicals in the environment, forensic science, and numismatics. He usually works in collaboration with students and faculty from other disciplines, crossing the traditional boundaries of chemistry. Recent work has focused primarily on applications involving isotopes of chemical ecology.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

(*Undergraduate co-authors)

N. W. Bower, C. J.K. Blanchet* and M. S. Epstein, Non-destructive determination of the age of 20th-century oil-binder ink prints using ATR-FTIR: a case study with postage stamps from the Łódź Ghetto, Appl. Spec., 70(1): 162-173 (2016)

A. T. Keller,* L. A. Regan, C. C. Lundstrom, N. W. Bower, Evaluation of the efficacy of spatiotemporal Pb isoscapes for provenancing of human remains, Foren. Sci. Int., 261(1): 83-92 (2016)

N. W. Bower, D. B. Hendin, C. C. Lundstrom, M. S. Epstein, A. T. Keller,* A. R. Wagner* and Z. R. White,* "Biblical" bronze coins: new insights into their timing and attribution using copper and lead isotopes, Archaeol. Anthro. Sci., 5(4): 287-298, (2013)

M. K. Reuer, N. W. Bower, J. H. Koball, E. Honostroza, M. E. De la Torre Marcas, J. A. H Surichaqui, and S. Echevarria, Lead, Arsenic, and Cadmium Contamination and Its Impact on Children's Health in La Oroya, Peru, ISRN Public Health (2012)

N. Bower and A. Yu, Exploiting Mass Measurements in Different Environments: Density, Magnetic Susceptibility, and Thermogravimetry, J. Chem. Ed., 88(3): 536-539 (2011)

N. W. Bower and C. J. K. Blanchet,* Analytical Pyrolysis - Chromatography: Something Old, Something New, J. Chem. Ed., 87(6): 467-469 (2010)

M. G. Brasuel, A. D. McCarter,* and N. W. Bower, Forensic Art Analysis Using Novel Reflectance Spectroscopy and Pyrolysis - Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry Instrumentation, Chem. Educator, 14(4): 150-154 (2009)

J. J. Emerick,* A. I. Snyder,* N. W. Bower, and M. A. Snyder, Mountain Pine Beetle Attack Associated with Low Levels of 4-Allylanisole in Ponderosa Pine, Environ. Ent., 37 (4), 871-5 (2008)

N. W. Bower, S. A. McCants,* J. M. Custodio,* M. E. Ketterer, S. R. Getty and J. M. Hoffman, Human Lead Exposure in a Late 19th Century Mental Asylum Population, Sci. Tot. Environ., 372, 463-473 (2007)

H. Drossman, J. Meyer,* N. Bower, Radioimmunoassay of Morphine in Urine from Ingestion of Poppy Seeds: A Research-Based Laboratory, Chem. Educator, 11(3), 190-195 (2006)

W. R. Wieder* and N. W. Bower, A Fire History of the Aiken Canyon Grassland/Woodland Ecotone in the Southern Foothills of the Colorado Front Range, Southwest. Nat., 49 (2) 239-243 (2004)

S. Kelso, N. W. Bower, K. E. Heckmann,* P. M. Beardsley,* and D. G. Greve,* Geobotany of the Niobrara Chalk Barrens in Colorado: A Study of Edaphic Endemism and Rarity, West. N. Amer. Nat., 63 (3), 299-313 (2003)

C. A. Heimbuck* and N. W. Bower, Optimizing the Analysis of Cocaine on Money Using GC-MS: A Cross-Disciplinary Undergraduate Laboratory, J. Chem. Ed., 79(10), 1254-1256 (2002)

P. P. Jung*, N. W. Bower, M. A. Snyder, D. W. Lehmpuhl, A Novel Application of Air-sampling Canisters: Selective Herbivory Associated with Monoterpene Emission from Ponderosa Pine, Amer. Lab. News, 33 (4), 50-52 (2001)

N. W. Bower, D. C. Stulik, and E. Doehne, A Critical Evaluation of the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope for the Analysis of Paint Fragments in Art Conservation, Fresenius J. Anal. Chem., 348, 402-410 (1994)

D. Kim*, E. S. Gladney, and N. W. Bower, Determination of water in 19 USGS Geochemical Reference Standards using Coulometry and Neutron-capture Prompt Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy, Geostand. Newsl., 11, 37-40 (1987)

N. W. Bower, S. Faciszewski*, S. Renwick*, and S. Peckham, A Preliminary Analysis of Rio Grande Glazes of the Classic Period using Scanning Electron Microscopy with X‑ray Fluorescence, J. Field Arch., 13, 307-315 (1986)

M. Lancaster*, R. Storey, N. W. Bower, Nutritional Evaluation of Buffalo Gourd: Elemental Analysis of Seed, Econ. Botany, 37, 306-309 (1983)

N. W. Bower and J. D. Ingle, Jr., Experimental and Theoretical Comparison of the Precision of Flame Atomic Absorption, Fluorescence, and Emission Measurements, N. W. Bower and J. D. Ingle, Jr., Appl. Spectr., 35, 317-324 (1981)

N.W. Bower and J.D. Ingle, Jr., Optimization of Instrumental Variables in Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, Anal. Chim. Acta, 105, 199-212 (1979)

N. W. Bower, J. J. Trunk*, and J. M. Witt, Sampling Size Selection for the Analysis of Pesticides in Tubers, J. Agric. Food Chem. 25, 429-431 (1977)

N. W. Bower,* R. H. Bromund, and R. H. Smith, Atomic Absorption for the Archaeologist: An Application to Pottery from Pella of the Decapolis, J. Field Arch., 2, 389-398 (1975)