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

该补助金为在阿什维尔的北卡罗来纳州大学建立成像和非破坏性化学分析中心所需的主要仪器的购置提供支持。 该中心将容纳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）。 环境扫描电镜将是阿什维尔地区第一个最先进的仪器，可供合格的个人和团体公众使用。环境扫描电镜将为联合国化学品管理局提供新的能力，对无涂层和部分水合的样品进行无损化学分析和观察。这种能力允许在实验期间的不同时间对相同样品（包括生物）进行持续观察和分析，而无需提取、安装、干燥或涂覆以进行检查。UNCA的文科重点包括本科研究计划，在美国新闻和世界报道中排名第九，以及与社区的联系。 该中心将用于UNCA的所有科学项目，包括生物学，化学，物理学，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州本科生研究联盟（NCCUR）的成员，该联盟由北卡罗来纳州系统的历史上的黑人学院和大学组成。我们会透过为教师举办的暑期培训工作坊及为本地班级举办的学年示范，让中、小学教师及学生接触环境生教育模式。 特别是对于这个项目，我们计划为附近的切罗基族的教师举办技术讲习班，与阿什维尔地区各县的教师建立伙伴关系和网络。 妇女占联合国中部非洲大学学生总数的55%，占教师讲习班参加者的绝大多数，她们将从该中心的使用中受益。 同样，UNCA正在积极寻求增加非裔美国人和其他少数民族在大学及其赞助项目中的参与。仪器的使用将集中在研究上，但UNCA和周边大学的各种科学课程也将使用该中心。 可能受益于该中心的研究项目包括：氢氧化铁基纳米颗粒的结构和磁性;铅、钢和其他类型射击的地球化学以及含金属考古材料的腐蚀产物;史前陶器的表征和鉴别;区域基岩的岩石学;区域花岗伟晶岩的矿物学;隐（昆虫）种的鉴别和金合欢属新大陆成员的亲缘关系。 环境扫描电镜实验室的课堂使用将涉及分析技术和能力的解释和简单的实验室实验。 将通过联合国中部非洲大学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介绍以及在专业期刊上发表来传播成果和方法。

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.