[Pollinator] expert in pollen ID sought

[David Inouye]

I've been contacted by someone in industry who is interested (if I 
understood correctly) in developing an automated system for pollen 
identification. I think this is in order to propose a project to 
security agencies (military?) as a way of getting information about 
where someone has been (by collecting pollen on their clothes, for 
example).  The company has no expertise in biology, but in 
automation, and is looking for a collaborator with the biology 
expertise that would be needed. I mentioned the possibility of image 
analysis of pollen grain photographs, but they're also interested in 
the technology reported in a new paper 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22342607 that used spectroscopy, 
immunoassay, and qPCR.  If you have  an interest and expertise 
related to this, I can put you in touch with the people who contacted me.

David Inouye