This wiki page is collecting wishes for spectroscopic awesomeness that have been expressed on the mailing lists or in person at barnraisings that could inspire a Spectral Challenge entry -- click edit to add yours below!

* I'm a gardener. Can i do my own soil testing? Usually i send away to a lab for a mineral profile, and to make sure there's nothing harmful in my soil before i plant food crops in it. 
* I live near a refinery. How can i know what is being released in a smokestack plume?
* When I look out over my city, i can see what i call "the smog layer". I can see that it changes on a daily, even hourly basis. Can i tell how much (and of what kind of) particles are in the atmosphere?
* I'm a surfer / fisherman / beach goer. Is this gunky stuff in the soil / on the beach just mud or is it a petrochemical spill?
* Can i test my tap water for additives?
* I have a telescope. If i add a spectrometer to the end of it, can I identify what stars are made of?
* I'm a journalist. Can i collect my own data for an expose on an overpriced consumer product?
* _add your own here!_
* _and here_
* _and here..._