Acquisition of a Preparative Ultracentrifuge and Tabletop Superspeed Centrifuge for Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Research Training in Biology

为教师指导的生物学本科生研究培训购买制备型超速离心机和台式超高速离心机

• 批准号: 0115902
• 负责人: Joanne Romagni
• 金额: $ 9.24万
• 依托单位: University of Saint Thomas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-09-01 至 2004-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0115902&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; Preparative; Ultracentrifuge; Tabletop; Superspeed

Acquisition of a Preparative Ultracentrifuge and Tabletop Superspeed Centrifuge for Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Research and Training in BiologyUniversity of St. Thomas, Dept. of Biology, Houston, TX 77006 A grant has been awarded to Dr. Romagni at the University of St. Thomas to acquire a preparative ultracentrifuge and supporting desktop superspeed centrifuge. It includes the cost of several necessary rotors, service for three years, and required training for personnel using the equipment. This instrumentation is an important component of departmental research strategy and fills an obvious void in the current undergraduate biology research program. The equipment will by used by undergraduate students at the University of St. Thomas, an ethnic minority serving undergraduate institution with a majority of women students, in independent research projects and in the classroom. These investigations are part of a faculty/student mentoring approach that has grown out of work originating in biology classes, and/or to research that is tied to the foci of various faculty. The equipment will also be integrated into such introductory biology classes as General Biology and, more intensively, in upper division undergraduate classes, such as Molecular Ecology, Cell Biology, Plant Physiology, Plant Physiological Ecology, and Biochemistry. Current faculty research that will utilize the acquired instruments include the molecular ecology and population dynamics of marine invertebrates used as indicators of estuarine water quality. They will also investigate the population genetics of several insect vectors of plant disease, in particular, whiteflies. Another area of research includes studies of whitefly-vectored viruses of plants. Finally, the equipment will be used for the ecophysiological/biochemical studies of plant secondary metabolites, the elucidation of their modes of action and their potential as environmentally friendly pesticides. With these funds, many of the current projects that require subcontracting of non-campus personnel to run experiments or that require faculty to complete some work off-campus, will be completed at the University of St. Thomas. This is a clearly advantageous for students who require a comprehensive laboratory experience as part of their science education. Not only will funding allow students to complete entire experiments/protocols themselves, it would also enable them to gain valuable technical skills for future work in the biological sciences and complete projects for publication in peer reviewed journals. Finally it will permit faculty to undertake research activities currently not possible because of the lack of centrifuge capabilities at their institution.

为托马斯大学生物学系的教师指导本科生研究和培训收购了一台台式超高速计算机和台式超高速计算机。美国德克萨斯州休斯顿市生物学研究所77006圣托马斯大学的Romagni博士获得了一笔赠款，用于购买一台制备型超离心分离机和配套的台式超高速离心机。 它包括几个必要的转子的成本，三年的服务，以及使用设备的人员所需的培训。 该仪器是部门研究战略的重要组成部分，填补了目前本科生物学研究计划中的一个明显的空白。 这些设备将供圣托马斯大学的本科生在独立的研究项目和课堂上使用，该大学是一所少数民族大学，大部分是女生。 这些调查是教师/学生指导方法的一部分，这种方法已经从生物学课程中产生的工作中发展出来，和/或与各种教师的焦点有关的研究。 该设备还将被整合到普通生物学等介绍性生物学课程中，并更深入地整合到高年级本科课程中，如分子生态学，细胞生物学，植物生理学，植物生理生态学和生物化学。 目前的教师研究，将利用所获得的仪器包括分子生态学和海洋无脊椎动物的种群动态作为河口水质的指标。 他们还将研究几种植物疾病昆虫载体的群体遗传学，特别是粉虱。 另一个研究领域包括研究植物的粉虱病毒。 最后，该设备将用于植物次级代谢物的生态生理学/生物化学研究，阐明其作用方式及其作为环境友好型农药的潜力。 有了这些资金，目前许多需要分包非校园人员进行实验或需要教师在校外完成一些工作的项目将在圣托马斯大学完成。 这对于需要全面实验室经验作为科学教育一部分的学生来说显然是有利的。 资金不仅允许学生自己完成整个实验/协议，还将使他们能够获得宝贵的技术技能，用于生物科学的未来工作，并完成在同行评审期刊上发表的项目。 最后，它将使教职员工能够从事目前由于所在机构缺乏离心机能力而无法开展的研究活动。