What’s the connection between olive oil, an ancient Greek vase, and X-ray fluorescence analysis? That’s exactly what Nora Madrigal ’19 and Ben Hoekstra ’19 sought to find out from a research project in their Chemistry 358: Instrumental Analysis class.

Across the street from campus at the corner of Park Street and 6th Avenue in Grinnell, Iowa, sits a 30–by-80-foot plot that’s been tilled and cared for. In the milder months, you’ll see it filled with crops like peppers and radishes, and you’ll see Grinnellians working there.