Pamela Carbone '79
Biography of Ms. Pamela Sue Scholl Carbone
Pam Carbone, then Pam Scholl, first came to Wright State in the summer of 1972 to participate in an Undergraduate Research Participation Program, working in the atomic Spectroscopy Laboratory with Dr. Charles Ross and Dr. David Wood. Upon Graduation from Transylvania University in Kentucky, she became one of the first participants in the MS (Master of Science) and MST (Master of Science for Teaching) programs of the Physics Department at Wright State starting Jan. 1974, the first year of these Master's programs. Her thesis for the MS degree was in the spectrum and atomic structure of the lead ion- an extension of the work she had started as an undergraduate, but involving greater measurements, interpretation and analysis. As a part of the MST program, which she participated in concurrently, she earned a teaching credential which she later used in both high school and college instruction. Pam's research, both during the summer program and her subsequent MS research, was in basic atomic spectroscopy. We cannot see an atom or ion. Instead we observe its characteristic spectral lines from a gaseous discharge, and from these wavelength measurements we infer its energy structure. The tables of characteristic wavelengths- such as the frequently used tables in the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics- and energy structures are used by astrophysicists to learn the compositions and conditions of far-off stars, and by chemists and physicists to measure trace elements and to understand atom and ion interactions. Pam observed many previously unidentified spectral lines, and her measurements of wavelength and calculated energy levels of ionized lead are both more accurate and more compete than what was done before. There is a great deal of interest in lead, both due to its toxic and environmental concerns, and because it is the end product of much radioactive decay in stars and on the earth.Curriculum Vitae
| Eisenhower Fellowship | Graduate College of Union University | 2001-2003 |
| M.S. (Physics with thesis) | Wright State University, Dayton, OH | 12/79 |
| B.A. (Physics and Mathematics) | Transylvania University, Lexington, KY | 11/73 |
| NY Certification |
General Science 7-12, permanent Mathematics 7-12, permanent Physics, permanent | |
| Professional Experience: | ||
| 1999 - 2008 | Middle School Science Teacher, Schenectady City Schools (served on the Schenectady School District Science Curriculum Committee 2000-present) | |
| 2007 - present | Steinmetz Achievement Academy, math and science | |
| 2004 - 2007 | Oneida Middle School | |
| 1999-2004 | Alternative Middle School at Steinmetz | |
| 1996 - 1999 | Home Instruction Tutor, Schenectady City School District | |
| 1978 - 1985 | Home Instruction Tutor, Schenectady City School District | |
| 9/75 - 6/77 | Physics Laboratory Instructor, Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA | |
| 3/75 - 6/75 | Student Teacher, Beavercreek High School, Beavercreek, OH | |
| 1/74 - 8/75 | Physics Teaching Assistant, Wright State University, Dayton, OH | |
| Community Involvement | ||
| 2003 - 2008 | President of the Capital District School Boards Association | |
| 1996 - present | Member of the Scotia-Glenville Board of Education. Elected to a fifth term in May 2008 | |
| 1988 - 2006 | Active PTA member in Scotia-Glenville at both elementary and secondary levels, holding various offices including Junior High PTA president and PTA Council president | |
| 1997 - 2000 | Member of the Scotia-Glenville Computer Technology Committee | |
| 1995 - 1996 | Member of the Scotia-Glenville Safe Schools Committee | |
| Articles Published | ||
| Sept. 1974 | Wood, Ross, Scholl, and Hoke, ``Interferometric measurement of PbII spectrum", J. Opt. Soc. Am, Vol. 64, No. 9, pp. 1159-1161. | |
| Jan. 1976 | Ross, Wood, and Scholl, "Series limit and hydrogenlike series in PbII", J.Opt. Soc. Am., Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 36-39. |
Technical information on Ms. Carbone's (born Scholl) work:
The major NIST online resource on atomic energy levels and wavelengths is the NIST Atomic Spectra Database. This database provides numerical data compiled by the NIST experts. These data are supplemented with references to original literature from where the data were taken. Thus, it is important to cite all the original research papers. A list of popular sources of reference atomic data which use the data published (and unpublished) by Ms. Scholl is given below.
The list of spectral lines of singly ionized lead, Pb II, currently included in ASD, contains lines identified and measured in the following work of Ms. Scholl:
[1] D. R. Wood, C. B. Ross, P. S. Scholl and M. Hoke, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 64, 1159 (1974).
In addition to that, it also includes nine lines quoted from Ms. Scholl's MS thesis.
The same content (spectral lines from Ref. [1] and from the MS thesis) was earlier published in the following NIST reference-data compilation:
Wavelengths and Transition Probabilities for Atoms and Atomic Ions, Part. I. Wavelengths, Part II. Transition Probabilities, Natl. Stand. Ref. Data Series, NSRDS-NBS 68, J. Reader, C. H. Corliss, W. L. Wiese, and G. A. Martin, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 415 pp. (1980)
Another major online resource for reference atomic data is the following:Handbook of Basic Atomic Spectroscopic Data, J. E. Sansonetti and W. C. Martin, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 34(4), 1559-2259 (2005), online at http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Handbook/index.html.
This resource also list spectral lines from Ref. [1] (see above). In addition to that, the value of ionization energy of Pb II given in the Handbook is quoted from another paper of Ms. Scholl:
[2] C. B. Ross, D. R. Wood and P. S. Scholl, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 66, 36 (1976).
The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, in the section on Line Spectra of the Elements, lists several lines from Ref. [1] (although, the reference is not given there).
The ionization energy of Pb II given in the section "Ionization Energies of Atoms and Atomic Ions" of the CRC Handbook is taken from Ms. Scholl's article, Ref. [2] (although again the reference is not given).
[Our thanks to Dr. Alexander Kramida, Atomic Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology for the technical brief.]
