Provision of a Research Microscope and a Gas Chromatography System in Support of Research at the Shannon Point Marine Center

西华盛顿大学(WWU)建立了香农角海洋中心(SPMC)，作为海洋科学研究和教育新举措的中心。SPMC地理位置优越，提供直接进入各种海洋和河口生境的通道，包括广泛的受保护湿地、水生植物、河口沼泽和岩石潮间带。SPMC的设施为研究当地河口过程提供了独特的机会，例如当地流域的生产力、营养循环和再生、微生物生态和底栖生物新陈代谢、炼油对环境的影响以及鱼类和无脊椎动物的生活史。该项目将通过购置具有暗场、相位对比度、差分干涉对比度、荧光和显微照相的光学显微镜系统来扩大在这些领域的研究机会。这将允许对藻类、原生动物、微生物和胚胎学研究至关重要的分辨率和荧光技术，并将扩展我们新获得的图像分析系统的能力。该项目还将为气相色谱系统提供支助，该系统将能够按照普吉特湾议定书中规定的分析程序分析沉积物和组织中的碳氢化合物污染。这些新设施将主要用于支持WWU教职员工和访问调查人员的研究，也将用于将研究纳入课程的学术项目。***

Western Washington University (WWU) has established the Shannon Point Marine Center (SPMC) as the focal point for new initiatives in research and education in marine science. SPMC is strategically located, providing direct access to a wide a variety of marine and estuarine habitats, including extensive protected wetlands, macrophytes, estuarine marshes, and rocky intertidal zones. The facilities of SPMC provide unique opportunties for research on local estuarine processes, such as productivity of local watersheds, nutrient cycling and regeneration, microbial ecology, and benthic metabolism; on environmental impacts of petroleum refining; and on fish and invertebrate life histories. This project will expand the opportunities for research in these areas by acquisition of a light microscopy system, with dark field, phase contrast, differential interference contrast, epifluorescence, and photomicrography. This will permit the resolution and episluorescence technology critical to algal, protistan, microbial, and embryological research, and will expand the capabilities of our newly-acquired image analysis system. The project will also provide support for a gas chromatography system that will permit analysis of hydrocarbon contamination in sediments and tissues following analytical procedures specified in the Puget Sound Protocols. These new facilities will be used primarily to support research by WWU faculty and visiting investigators and also will be employed in academic programs that incorporate research into the curriculum. ** *