MRI: Acquisition of instrumentation to strengthen ecological research and education at the University of Southern Mississippi

该奖项是根据《2009年美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)资助的。国家科学基金会已向南密西西比大学发放了一笔赠款，用于购买仪器，以扩大生态学研究的师资资源，并改善学生的教育和培训。该仪器包括一台CHNS养分分析仪、养分自动分析仪、自动土壤二氧化碳通量系统和便携式光合作用/二氧化碳气体交换系统。此外，该奖项还提供资金，用于购买设备基础设施(水生生态系统和孵化器)，以支持该仪器的使用，并将其纳入当前的研究和教育培训活动。南密西西比大学有一个核心教员小组，他们对碳和营养在生物生物学和生态学中的作用和影响感兴趣。这些教师的范围从生理学到群落和生态系统生态学家，他们专注于各种分类群体，包括植物、藻类、原生动物、真菌、细菌、无脊椎动物和脊椎动物。这一仪器将为教师建立新的关键分析能力，以测量陆地和水生生态系统中的碳和营养动态。因此，这种仪器将促进和加强教师和学生之间的协作互动，他们对量化生态系统内的碳和养分过程和影响感兴趣。该仪器还将支持本科生和研究生在生态科学方面的研究、课程安排和培训。随着本科生和研究生使用现代仪器提高他们的分析技能水平，学生的教育和培训将得到显著加强。这一机会将帮助学生将理论学习与实践技能相结合，从而提高他们在要求苛刻的就业市场上的竞争力，环境行业可能会出现增长。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).A grant has been awarded by NSF to the University of Southern Mississippi for the purchase of instrumentation to expand faculty resources for ecological research and to improve student education and training. This instrumentation includes a CHNS Nutrient Analyzer, Nutrient Autoanalyzer, Automated Soil CO2 Flux Systems, and Portable Photosynthesis / CO2 Gas Exchange Systems. In addition, this award provides funds to purchase equipment infrastructure (aquatic mesocosms and incubators) to support the use and integration of this instrumentation into current research and educational training activities. The University of Southern Mississippi has a core group of faculty interested in the role and impact of carbon and nutrients on organismal biology and ecology. These faculty range from physiological to community and ecosystem ecologists, who focus on a variety of taxonomic groups including plants, algae, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, invertebrates, and vertebrates. This instrumentation will establish new and critical analytical capabilities for faculty to measure carbon and nutrient dynamics within terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Thus, this instrumentation will foster and strengthen collaborative interactions among faculty and students interested in quantifying carbon and nutrient processes and impacts within ecosystems. This instrumentation also will support the research, coursework, and training of both undergraduate and graduate students in the ecological sciences. Student education and training will be significantly enhanced, as undergraduate and graduate students expand their analytical skill level with modern instrumentation. This opportunity will help students integrate theoretical learning with hands-on practical skills, thus increasing their competitiveness in a demanding job market likely to see growth in environmental sectors.