Donald G. Howard
Professor Emeritus of Physics

Office Phone: (503) 725 - 9507

Office Location: 32 Science Building 1

Email: howardd@pdx.edu

Research Interests

Dr. Howard, as a Solid State Physicist, is primarily interested in crystals and crystal structure. Background in mineralogy and inorganic chemistry allows him to work with both natural and laboratory prepared compounds. The work makes use of x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. Recent work includes:

Identifying and characterizing new naturally-occurring minerals.

Growing and characterizing new inorganic phases of double salts.

In addition, he has developed a computer-based spectrometer for Mossbauer spectroscopy utilizing Fe57 as a probe to study the properties of solids and surfaces. Applications include:

Identification of iron-containing minerals in rock samples, in particular, estimating the relative concentrations of ferrous and ferric iron to study the degree of oxidation of the rock.

Relating the direction and magnitude of internal magnetic fields and quadrupole electric field gradients to the crystallographic structure of minerals and chemical compounds.

Studying the adsorption of molecules from gases and aqueous solutions onto graphite surfaces.

Selected Publications

Occurrence of Wakefieldite - (Ce) with Zedites at Yellow Lake, British Columbia, Canada. D.G. Howard, R. W. Tschernich and G. L. Klein, N. Jb. Miner. Mh. 1995, H.3, 127-132, Stuttgart (1995)

Crystal Habit and Twinning of Garronite from Fara Vicentina, Vicenza (Italy). D.G. Howard, N. Jb. Miner. Mh. 1994, H.2., 91-96; Stuttgart (1994).

Tschernichite, a New Zeolite from Goble, Columbia County, Oregon. R.C.Boggs, D.G. Howard, J.V. Smith and G.L. Klein, Amer. Mineralogist 78:822-826 (1993).

Tschernichite, the Mineral Analogue of Zeolite Beta. J.V. Smith, J.J. Pluth, R.C. Boggs and D.G. Howard, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun. 1991:363 (1991).

Boggsite, a New High-Silica Zeolite from Goble, Columbia County, Oregon. D.G. Howard, R.W. Tschernich, J.V. Smith, and G.L. Klein, Amer. Mineralogist 75:1200-1204 (1990).

Mossbauer Studies of Cobalt Ions Adsorbed from Solution onto Activated Charcoal. D.G. Howard, Carbon 26 559-563 (1988).

Metal Adsorption by Activated Carbon. J.D. Cashion, D.J. Cookson, I.I. Brown and D.G. Howard in Industrial Applications of the Mossbauer Effect, G.L.Long and J.G.Stevens, eds., New York: Plenum Press, pp. 595-608 (1987).

Cluster Size and Spatial Distribution in Gold Deposits on NaCl Surfaces. J.L. Robins, M.S. Marlock and D.G. Howard, Appl. of Surf. Sci. 22/23:565 (1985).