RUI/MRI: Acquisition of an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope for Research and Teaching

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A grant has been awarded to East Carolina University (ECU) under the direction of Dr. Jason E. Bond for the purchase of an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) equipped with energy dispersive x-ray capabilities. For over a quarter of a century the Department of Biology has supported a fully equipped electron microscope laboratory (the EML). This facility has served as a research tool for faculty and students from numerous disparate biological disciplines and as an important resource for faculty and students from at least three other science departments. Moreover, the EML has served an important educational function, training over 20 advanced undergraduate and graduate students per year in fundamental electron microscope techniques. The ESEM will be used in support of the research and teaching missions of at least three separate ECU Departments: Biology, Chemistry and Geology. At a minimum we anticipate major use of an ESEM by a group of five core users and a core of seven auxiliary users who will use the equipment on an irregular basis. The acquisition of this scope will directly impact the research programs of the five core users (PI's), three of which are currently funded by the NSF. These core research programs include studies of spider morphology for systematics, pollination biology and the evolution of self incompatibility, mineralogical and geochemical assessment of changes occurring in coastal limestone aquifers, studies of the surface morphology and stoichiometry of the surface of zeolites, and investigation of the groundwater chemistry of Coastal Plain aquifers in North Carolina. In addition to the use of this instrumentation by faculty and graduate students from these three Departments the ESEM will be used formally in a number of courses. For example, Biology has, on average, trained ~23 students per year in electron microscopy. With the addition of EDX capabilities requested as part of this microscope, the ESEM will also be suitable for use by undergraduates enrolled in chemistry and geology courses. Semester enrollments in courses will expose an additional estimated 19 and 36 Geology and Chemistry undergraduate students to the ESEM respectively.The availability and ease of use afforded by the acquisition of an ESEM will increase the likelihood of exposing scanning electron microscope technology and digital imaging to the culturally diverse student body of East Carolina University and to the people of the eastern North Carolina. Training students in electron microscopy has a number of broad scale benefits to students. For example, the acquisition of digital imaging techniques and training on such a technologically advanced piece of equipment will provide students with training in a set of tools that can be used in a broad number of disciplines in the life and physical sciences. Although acquisition of an ESEM will significantly impact the educational programs of departments at ECU, we anticipate that this equipment will also impact local middle, school, high school and community college science programs. This equipment will be made available to the faculty and students for use in both teaching demonstrations and basic research.