Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is an analytical technique that uses a high-powered laser pulse to ablate a small amount of material from a sample, creating a microplasma. As the plasma cools, it emits light at characteristic wavelengths corresponding to the elements present in the sample. By capturing and analyzing this emitted light with a spectrometer, we can identify and quantify the elemental composition of a wide range of materials.

At YREP, LIBS research is structured into two distinct but collaborative teams: experimental and analysis.

The experimental teams focus on sample collection, preparation, and laser-based data acquisition. They work hands-on with the LIBS setup, aligning optics, handling materials, and troubleshooting live experiments in the lab.

The analysis team writes custom Python code to process and interpret the raw spectral data, applying statistical methods, background subtraction, and peak identification techniques to extract meaningful results.

This division of labor allows YREP students to accomplish more in less time, while also mirroring the collaborative structure of large-scale scientific experiments—such as dark matter or particle physics collaborations—where researchers contribute in specialized roles to a shared scientific objective.

Behind every LIBS spectrum is a wealth of information waiting to be uncovered—and that’s where our data analysis team comes in. Students in this group develop and refine custom Python code to interpret the complex emission spectra generated during LIBS experiments.

Their work includes background subtraction, peak detection, normalization, and elemental identification, often using open-source scientific libraries. By building algorithms from scratch and applying them to real-world datasets, students gain hands-on experience in scientific computing, data visualization, and collaborative coding.

This analysis not only supports the experimental groups, but also enables broader insights and long-term comparisons across projects and years. The LIBS data team plays a central role in transforming raw light into meaningful conclusions.

This YREP team uses Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy to investigate soil contamination in former industrial sites known as brownfields. These sites often carry a legacy of pollution, and understanding their elemental composition is key to assessing environmental risk and informing potential remediation efforts.

Students in this group collect soil samples from targeted locations, prepare them for analysis, and use LIBS to detect the presence of heavy metals and other potentially hazardous elements. Their work combines environmental science with advanced laser spectroscopy, giving students the opportunity to apply physics in a context with real-world impact.

By contributing to long-term datasets and refining field-to-lab protocols, this team plays a vital role in YREP’s commitment to using science as a tool for environmental stewardship and community engagement.

This YREP project used Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy to investigate the changing elemental composition of U.S. pennies over time. By analyzing coins minted across different decades, students explored how economic, political, and material considerations influenced the volution of U.S. currency.

In collaboration with researchers at the South Dakota School of Mines, students performed LIBS analysis on historical penny samples and used custom Python code to identify and compare elemental signatures such as copper, zinc, and tin. The project highlighted shifts in metallurgical content and examined how factors like oxidation and circulation affected the resulting spectra.

This interdisciplinary investigation connected physics, chemistry, and history—demonstrating how elemental analysis can uncover hidden stories in everyday artifacts.

This YREP project explores the elemental makeup of sargassum, an invasive seaweed that accumulates along South Florida’s coastlines in increasingly large and disruptive blooms. Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), students analyze dried sargassum samples to identify nutrient levels and detect the presence of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and cadmium—elements that may pose risks to ecosystems and human health.

Students collect sargassum samples from local beaches, prepare them for analysis, and perform LIBS experiments to generate high-resolution spectral data. The team’s work provides insight into both the potential for sargassum as a bioresource and the environmental risks associated with its decomposition or reuse.

By contributing to a growing body of regional data, this project supports ongoing conversations around coastal health, marine pollution, and sustainable solutions for sargassum management.

This YREP project used Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy to investigate the changing elemental composition of U.S. pennies over time. By analyzing coins minted across different decades, students explored how economic, political, and material considerations influenced the evolution of U.S. currency.

In collaboration with researchers at the South Dakota School of Mines, students performed LIBS analysis on historical penny samples and used custom Python code to identify and compare elemental signatures such as copper, zinc, and tin. The project highlighted shifts in metallurgical content and examined how factors like oxidation and circulation affected the resulting spectra.

This interdisciplinary investigation connected physics, chemistry, and history—demonstrating how elemental analysis can uncover hidden stories in everyday artifacts.

Optical tweezing is a technique that uses highly focused laser beams to trap and manipulate microscopic particles—such as cells, beads, or even single molecules—without any physical contact. By exploiting the radiation pressure of light, optical tweezers allow precise, non-invasive control of objects on the micrometer and nanometer scale. This technology has revolutionized research in biophysics, materials science, and nanotechnology, earning its inventors the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018. 

Optical tweezing is not just a scientific curiosity—it is a cornerstone of many cutting-edge industrial and research applications. In biotechnology, it is used for measuring the mechanical properties of DNA, sorting cells, and studying protein interactions. In manufacturing and diagnostics, optical manipulation enables the assembly of microscale devices and the development of lab-on-a-chip systems. The precision and contact-free nature of tweezers make them ideal for working with delicate biological materials and nanostructures, supporting everything from drug discovery to quantum research.

This project seeks to answer a fundamental question: What if one of the most powerful tools in modern biophysics could be built and operated by high school students? Optical tweezers, however, their high cost and technical complexity have historically kept them out of reach for most educational settings. In this YREP project, students take on the challenge of building a functional, cost-effective optical tweezing system using off-the-shelf components and 3D-printed parts. By modifying the OpenFlexure 3D-printed inverted microscope, designing custom optics mounts, and integrating laser pathways, students explore principles of optics, photonics, and precision instrumentation. This hands-on engineering work is paired with experimental testing of trap stability and exploration of real-world applications, such as measuring forces on microscopic beads or manipulating biological samples. The project aims not just to teach students about advanced optical physics, but to democratize access to meaningful experimental research by reducing barriers of cost and complexity.

What happens when you combine cutting-edge biophysics tools with marine biology? In this interdisciplinary project—developed in collaboration with YREP: Sharks—students are building and calibrating Thorlabs’ modular optical tweezers system to investigate the mechanical properties of biomolecules found in sharks. Using a high-powered infrared laser, students work to create stable optical traps capable of manipulating microscopic beads tethered to shark-derived proteins, including titin, a key structural protein found in muscle tissue. The goal is to stretch and study these proteins at the single-molecule level, revealing how their mechanical responses contribute to the unique physiology of sharks. This is one of YREP’s most ambitious research endeavors. It challenges students to integrate knowledge of optics, biology, and advanced instrumentation, while collaborating across disciplines to bridge marine science and experimental physics. Through this work, students gain experience with high-precision alignment, laser safety, and molecular force measurements—skills typically reserved for advanced university labs.

YREP students use Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to investigate the chemical composition of mangrove ecosystems in South Florida. This project focuses on understanding how urbanization and pollution influence plant health and environmental quality in mangrove habitats. Students analyze mangrove soil, leaves, and propagules collected from sites spanning a gradient of environmental impact, including areas affected by roadway runoff, urban development, and industrial activity. Using LIBS, students identify elemental signatures and screen for heavy-metal contaminants, such as lead, copper, and zinc, as well as other trace elements associated with human activity. This work contributes to the broader Urban Mangrove Biophysics Project, which examines how environmental stressors influence ecosystem health, biodiversity, and resilience.

Mangroves serve as critical coastal buffers and biodiversity hotspots, yet they are increasingly exposed to pollution. By identifying contaminant patterns across urban environments, students help build a clearer picture of how human activity affects coastal ecosystems.

A long-term goal of this project is to extend LIBS analysis to the identification of microplastic contamination in mangrove environments. Students are exploring how LIBS spectral signatures may be used to detect and characterize plastic particles embedded in soil and plant material, advancing rapid, field-adaptable methods for environmental monitoring.

YREP students conduct a longitudinal biodiversity study of South Florida mangrove ecosystems using Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) systems. This non-invasive monitoring technique allows students to document fish and marine species presence, abundance, and behavior without disturbing the habitat. BRUV deployments are conducted at multiple sites representing a gradient of environmental impact, enabling students to compare urban, pollution-impacted mangroves with less disturbed ecosystems. By analyzing video footage over time, students track patterns in biodiversity, species diversity, and ecosystem health.

This project is integrated into the broader Urban Mangrove Biophysics Research Initiative, which explores how environmental stressors influence coastal ecosystems. To better understand the factors influencing ecosystem health, students also collect water samples at each site to monitor microplastic contamination. By pairing biodiversity observations with microplastic measurements, the project seeks to identify potential relationships between pollution levels and marine life diversity.

Mangroves support juvenile fish populations, protect shorelines, and sustain coastal biodiversity. Monitoring how pollution and microplastics influence these ecosystems provides critical insight into environmental resilience and conservation needs in urban coastal regions. Because this is an ongoing study, students contribute to a growing dataset that allows future researchers to identify trends over time, making YREP participants active contributors to long-term environmental monitoring and conservation science.

YREP students investigate how mangrove plants respond mechanically to environmental stress by measuring stress and strain within roots and structural components. Because mangroves function as natural coastal barriers, understanding their mechanical resilience is essential to evaluating their role in shoreline protection. Students design and build measurement systems using strain gauges to detect deformation and mechanical load responses in plant structures. Before field deployment, prototypes and measurement techniques are tested in a custom-built water tank system, allowing students to simulate tidal forces, water flow, and mechanical stress in a controlled environment.

This engineering-focused approach enables students to refine instrumentation, validate measurement methods, and explore how mangrove structures respond to dynamic environmental forces. This work runs in conjunction with the LIBS environmental contamination study, which identifies heavy metal pollutants and other contaminants present in soil and plant tissues. By pairing mechanical measurements with chemical analysis, students investigate how pollution exposure may influence plant strength, flexibility, and overall function. Mangroves act as living seawalls — stabilizing shorelines, reducing erosion, and protecting coastal communities from storm surge. Understanding how environmental contaminants affect the mechanical integrity and protective function of mangroves is critical for predicting ecosystem resilience in urban coastal environments.

Through instrument design, prototype testing, and field measurements, students engage in authentic interdisciplinary research that integrates physics, engineering, and environmental science to better understand how coastal ecosystems protect our shorelines.

The YREP Synthetic Biology team is investigating the microbiome of mangrove leaves and soils to better understand how microbial communities interact with environmental stressors and influence ecosystem health. For more information about this work, please visitthe Synthetic Biology project page.