Acquisition of Instruments for the Establishment of a Center for Imaging and Nondestructive Chemical Analysis at the University of North Carolina at Asheville: An MRI/RUI Proposal

这笔拨款为购买主要仪器提供支持，用于在北卡罗来纳大学阿什维尔分校建立成像和无损化学分析中心。该中心将配备一台环境扫描电子显微镜（ESEM）和一台x射线能量色散光谱仪（EDX）。ESEM将是阿什维尔地区第一个这种最先进的仪器，可供合格的个人和团体公开使用。ESEM将为UNCA提供无损化学分析和观察非涂层和部分水化样品的新能力。这种能力允许在实验期间的不同时间对同一样品（包括生物）进行持续观察和分析，而无需提取、安装、干燥或涂覆检查。UNCA的文科重点包括本科研究项目，该项目在《美国新闻与世界报道》（US News and World Report）中排名全国第九，以及与社区的联系。该中心将被UNCA的所有科学项目使用，包括生物、化学、物理、环境研究（包括地球科学）和穆斯堡尔研究小组。该中心的主要用户将是UNCA的教师和本科生以及来自附近大学、政府机构和行业的合作者。该中心将免费提供给北卡罗来纳大学本科研究联盟（NCCUR）的成员，该联盟由北卡罗来纳大学系统中历史悠久的黑人学院和大学组成。中小学教师和学生将通过夏季教师培训讲习班和为当地班级举办的学年示范活动来接触ESEM。特别是在这个项目中，我们计划为附近切罗基族的教师举办技术研讨会，使他们与邻近阿什维尔地区各县的教师结成伙伴关系并建立联系。妇女占UNCA学生总数的55%，她们构成了教师研讨会参与者的绝大多数，她们将受益于该中心的使用。同样，加州大学洛杉矶分校正在积极寻求非洲裔美国人和其他少数民族更多地参与大学及其赞助的项目。仪器使用将侧重于研究，但各种科学类在UNCA和周边大学也将使用该中心。可能从该中心受益的研究项目包括：氧化铁纳米颗粒的结构和磁性；铅的地球化学，钢铁，和其他类型的射击从娱乐射击场和腐蚀产物含金属考古材料；史前陶器的特征与鉴别区域基岩岩石学；区域花岗质伟晶岩矿物学；隐（虫）种的鉴别和金合欢属新大陆成员的系统发育。ESEM实验室的课堂使用将包括分析技术和能力的解释以及简单的实验室实验。成果和方法的传播将通过UNCA年度本科生研究专题讨论会的特别会议、教师讲习班和学校示范、在区域和国家会议上的介绍以及在专业期刊上的发表来完成。

This grant provides support for the acquisition of major instrumentation to be used to establish a Center for Imaging and Nondestructive Chemical Analysis at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The Center will house an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) and an X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDX). The ESEM will be the first of this state-of-the art instrument in the Asheville region, available for public use by qualified individuals and groups. The ESEM will provide new capability at UNCA for nondestructive chemical analyses and observation of non-coated and partially hydrated specimens. This capability allows on-going observation and analysis of the same sample, including living things, at different times during an experiment, without the need to extract, mount, dry, or coat for examination. UNCA's liberal arts focus includes the undergraduate research program, ranked ninth in the nation by US News and World Report, and connections with the community. The Center will be used by all science programs at UNCA, including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Studies (including Earth Science), and the Mossbauer research group. Primary users of the Center will be faculty and undergraduate students at UNCA and collaborators from nearby universities, government agencies, and industry. The Center will be available at no cost to members of the North Carolina Consortium of Undergraduate Research (NCCUR), which consists of the historically black colleges and universities of the University of North Carolina system. Primary and secondary teachers and students will be exposed to the ESEM through summer training workshops for teachers and school-year demonstrations for local classes. For this project in particular, we plan to conduct technology workshops for teachers from the nearby Cherokee Nation, partnering and networking them with teachers from counties in the immediate Asheville region. Women, who make up 55% of the student body at UNCA and who comprise the vast majority of teacher workshop participants will benefit from use of the Center. Likewise, UNCA is aggressively seeking increased participation of African-Americans and other minorities at the university and in its sponsored programs. Instrument use will focus on research, but a variety of science classes at UNCA and surrounding universities also will use the Center. Examples of possible research projects that will benefit from the Center include structural and magnetic properties of iron oxyhydroxide-based nanoparticles; geochemistry of lead, steel, and other types of shot from recreational shooting ranges and corrosion products of metal-bearing archaeological materials; characterization and discrimination of prehistoric pottery; petrology of the regional bedrock; mineralogy of regional granitic pegmatites; discrimination of cryptic (insect) species; and phylogeny of New World members of Acacia. Classroom usage of the ESEM laboratory will involve explanation of analytical techniques and capabilities and simple laboratory experiments. Dissemination of results and methods will be accomplished through special sessions of UNCA's annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, teacher workshops and school demonstrations, presentation at regional and national meetings, and publication in professional journals.