MRI: Acquisition of Instruments and Technical Support for an Interdepartmental Fossil Preparation Laboratory

016517 o ' leary该基金由主要研究仪器项目资助，为纽约州立大学石溪分校（SUNY-SB）解剖科学系现有的化石准备设施提供支持。州立大学石溪分校的脊椎动物古生物学研究由四个独立的院系（解剖科学系、人类学系、生态与进化系、地球科学系）进行，由9名全职教师、1名博士后助理、1名研究人员和2名研究人员组成。还有一大批研究生和本科生。通过在解剖科学系建立一个最先进的脊椎动物化石制备实验室，到目前为止，全校古生物学家的比例最高，这个设施将提供给所有石溪古生物学家和他们的学生。这些古生物学家和实习古生物学家的研究直接依赖于脊椎动物化石的机械和化学制备。很简单，化石准备就是把化石从埋藏的岩石基质中小心地提取出来的过程。这是一个非常耗时的过程，需要很高的技能、知识和经验，还需要使用最先进的设备和工具。目前，SBU脊椎动物古生物学家进行了大约20个实地项目，其中许多项目目前或最近得到了国家科学基金会的支持。这些项目跨越了2亿年的地球历史，分布在四个不同的大陆上，旨在通过收集新的化石数据来验证进化假说。这笔资金将用于购买样品制备设备（即空气压缩机和喷砂机、空气过滤设备、存储柜、手动工具和化学用品），并支持接受过化石制备和策展技术培训的全职技术人员。该大学承诺提供一个独立的实验室，配备水槽、橱柜和通风柜，严格用于化石制备。额外的技术支持将有助于消除过去十年中积累的大量未准备好的化石标本的积压，并在将最具科学意义的标本送回原籍国的机构之前对其进行模塑和铸造。建立一个最先进的脊椎动物化石制备设施，并雇用第二名熟练的技术人员，将大大提高石溪古生物学家的研究效率，消除对外部合同工作的需求，并有助于学生的基础培训。＊＊＊

0116517O'LearyThis grant, funded though the Major Research Instrumentation Program, provides support to upgrade significantly the current facilities for fossil preparation in the Department of Anatomical Sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY-SB) Vertebrate paleontological research at SUNY-SB is conducted in four separate departments (Anatomical Sciences, Anthropology, Ecology and Evolution, Geosciences) by nine full-time faculty, one postdoctoral associate, and a host of graduate and undergraduate students. Through the establishment of a state-of-the-art vertebrate fossil preparation laboratory in the Department of Anatomical Sciences, which contains, by far, the highest proportion of paleontologists on campus, this facility will be made available to all Stony Brook paleontologists and their students. These paleontologists and paleontologists-in-training depend directly on mechanical and chemical preparation of vertebrate fossils for their research. Fossil preparation is, quite simply, the process by which fossils are carefully extracted from their entombing rock matrix. It is a very time-intensive process requiring great skill, knowledge, and experience, as well as access to state-of-the-art equipment and tools. At present SBU vertebrate paleontologists conduct some 20 field projects, many of them currently or recently supported by the National Science Foundation. These projects span over 200 million years of Earth history, on four separate continents, and are targeted at evolutionary hypotheses that can be tested by collecting new fossil data. Fund from this grant will be used to purchase sample preparation equipment (i.e. an air compressor and sand blaster, air filtration equipment, storage cabinets, hand tools, and chemical supplies) and to support a full-time technician trained in fossil preparation and curation techniques. The University has committed to providing a separate laboratory equipped with sinks, cabinetry, and a fume hood that would be dedicated strictly to fossil preparation. Additional technical support will help to eliminate the significant backlog of unprepared fossil specimens that has accumulated over the past decade, as well as to mold and cast the most scientifically significant specimens prior to their return to institutions in their country of origin. Establishment of a state-of-the-art vertebrate fossil preparation facility and the hiring of a second skilled technician will dramatically increase the research productivity of Stony Brook paleontologists, eliminate the need for outside contract work, and assist in the fundamental training of students. ***