MRI: Acquisition of a Photosynthesis and Respiration System for Research and Education at Tennessee State University

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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 Tennessee State University (TSU) for the purchase of a state-of-the-art instrumentation consisting of portable photosynthesis and respiration system package. The equipment set includes a Li-Cor Environmental Education Fund (LEEF) III package; a Li-Cor 4300c Leaf Area Meter, an LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer; and a Soil Moisture Meter. The instrumentation will be used to address a variety of research questions in the areas of plant physiology, ecology, organic farming, and environmental sciences. Specifically, the instrumentation will be used to investigate plant responses to climate change such as drought and flooding, and responses to environmental stresses such as nutrient deficiency, soil respiration in grasslands and croplands. The acquisition of instrumentation will also allow faculty and students to carry out the research projects that would otherwise be significantly impeded or impossible to conduct at TSU. This grant will allow the PI and TSU faculty to generate data that would strengthen future proposals. The broader impacts of the proposed activity relate to both ecophysiological research and the training of students at TSU. The new equipment will be integrated into the curriculum at both undergraduate and graduate levels to enrich student research training and learning. The equipment will also increase the ability of the PIs to attract and mentor under-represented minority undergraduate students in the fields of ecology and environmental studies, and provide hands-on research experience to students conducting independent research projects. Results obtained with this equipment will be published in high impact peer reviewed scientific journals and will be presented at scientific conferences for wide dissemination.