Scanning Electron Microscope Studies: Heavy Metal Distribu-tion in Biological, Chemical, and Geological Systems

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The Research Improvement in Minority Institutions (RIMI) program was established to provide support to strengthen the research environments and capabilities of predominantly minority institutions or institutions that have substantial minority student populations. Eligible institutions must also have graduate programs in science or programs in engineering. Funding is provided for faculty research in fields of science and engineering supported by the Foundation and for the acquisition of research instrumentation. Lehman College will use RIMI support to acquire a scanning electron microscope to perform studies on heavy metal distribution in biological, chemical, and geological systems. Scientists have gathered considerable information on heavy metal pollution. This study will add to this base of knowledge by examining the subcellular structural responses to metallic pollutants and by assessing the possibility of drawing correlations between the effects of these metals in simple but dissimilar cell types. The investigators on one study will use flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry initially to determine the incorporation of selected heavy metals in two test organisms: Saccharomyces cerevisiae and chlorella vulgaris. Other studies will focus on topics such as toxicity on freshwater lake algae and controlled environmental systematics problems for plants. The principal investigator has a long history of research publications and has a commendable record as a university administrator. The Foundation has supported this project because the participation of minorities in meritorious biological research on plants will be enhanced significantly at an urban university.