The PLOTS Spectrometer is a tool Colin Frazer and Jeff Warren have been developing at RISD's Environmental Justice research group. A spectrometer is a tool for identifying the unique patterns of light refracted, reflected or emitted from an object, like a fingerprint. Using spectrometer you can collect that pattern of light and use it to identify what a substance is made of.  We hope to use spectrometry to identify harmful gases emitted during the course of oil and gas production. Our spectrometer consists of a cardboard box, a broken CD, and a digital camera. The cardboard box or tube collects the light from an object. The broken CD splits that light into a rainbow like spectrum. The digital camera photographs that spectrum so we can analyze it using our online tools.