MRI/RUI: Acquisition of Growth Chambers for Undergraduate and Faculty Research on Genetic and Environmental Interactions

在首席研究员Jennifer Sadowski博士和联合首席研究员Glena Temple博士的指导下，维特博大学获得了一笔资金，用于加强生物系教师指导的本科生研究经验的项目。该奖项旨在研究环境和基因对昆虫和植物性状表达的相互作用。这笔拨款将支持购买四个大型和两个小型生长室，每个生长室都有严格的环境控制，包括光和温度。目前校园内没有适合进行本研究的生长箱；在一个偏远的温室里借来的空间已经不足以代替。新的生长室将使学生和他们的教师导师能够模拟多种精确控制的环境，以检查基因和环境的相互作用。研究是维泰博大学本科课程的重要组成部分。所有自然科学系的高年级学生都必须与教师导师合作，提出一个可测试的假设，设计和实施适当的实验，并正式展示他们的结果。生长室将用于研究植物和昆虫的遗传和环境相互作用。每年，超过一半的生物系学生将与教职员工一起使用所要求的仪器进行他们的顶级研究项目。项目包括研究环境和基因对昆虫社会和交配行为的相互作用，以及分析植物对环境胁迫的生化和遗传适应。参与的教职员工将与大学内外的其他人合作进行高智力价值的研究，这将导致同行评审的出版物和在本科生科学会议上的演讲。新生长室的收购和使用将大大提高维泰博大学学生的教育体验，并支持高质量的研究。这一设施的改进有望鼓励更多的学生攻读科学领域的高级学位，尤其是女性和第一代大学生，她们在维泰博的学生群体中占很大比例。

A grant has been awarded to Viterbo University under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Sadowski, Principal Investigator, and Dr. Glena Temple, co-Principal Investigator, for a project to strengthen faculty-directed undergraduate research experiences in the Biology Department. This grant award investigates the interacting role of the environment and genes on the expression of traits in insects and plants. The grant award will support the purchase of four large and two small growth chambers, each with stringent environmental controls, including light and temperature. Presently there are no growth chambers on campus suitable to conduct this research; borrowed space at a remote greenhouse has been an inadequate substitute. The new growth chambers will enable students and their faculty mentors to simulate multiple, precisely controlled environments to examine the interacting effects of genes and the environment.Research is an essential component of the undergraduate curriculum at Viterbo University. All seniors in the Natural Science Division are required to work with a faculty mentor to develop a testable hypothesis, design and implement the appropriate experiments, and formally present their results. The growth chambers will be used to investigate genetic and environmental interactions in both plants and insects. Over half of the students in the Biology department, working with faculty members, will use the requested instrumentation for their capstone research projects each year. Projects include studying the interacting effects of the environment and genes on the social and mating behaviors in insects, and analyzing the biochemical and genetic adaptations that plants make in response to environmental stress. The faculty members involved will collaborate with others both within and outside the university to conduct research of high intellectual merit, which will lead to peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific meetings with undergraduates. The acquisition and use of the new growth chambers will greatly enhance the educational experience of students at Viterbo University and support high quality research. This facilities enhancement is expected to encourage more students to pursue advanced degrees in the sciences, particularly women and first generation college students who form a large percentage of Viterbo's student body.