MRI-R2: Acquisition of a Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope for New Mexico State University

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。该主要研究仪器-回收和再投资（MRI-R2）奖资助购买共聚焦显微镜，以支持新墨西哥州立大学的各种研究和教学活动。该仪器将被安置在新密歇根州立大学的集中显微镜设施中，由电子显微镜实验室管理，以改善大学和周边社区当前和未来的研究和培训。新的共聚焦显微镜将支持细胞和发育生物学、神经生物学、动物/微生物相互作用、植物分子生物学、纳米技术和化学生物学的研究。该项目将利用显微镜对活细胞成像进行串联扫描的能力，以及分离重叠光谱的光谱探测器，这对于需要非传统激发/发射光谱的应用至关重要。新系统大大拓宽了教师、研究生和本科生的研究能力，促进了多个科学领域的职业发展。新的仪器也为研究培训和教育提供了重要的机会。18名参与调查者指导了100多名研究生和本科生（60%为女性，57%为未被充分代表的少数民族），这些数字反映了对招募和培训女性和其他未被充分代表的群体的承诺历史。该系统将用于支持教育和推广活动，包括继续提供2门课程，在其他现有的生物学课程中引入共聚焦显微镜，以及为STEM项目提供示范，旨在招募和提高NMSU和整个新墨西哥州的女性和少数民族学生和教师的研究技能。学生有机会使用最先进的荧光成像和分析工具，将对他们的研究项目产生深远的影响，使他们在获得顶尖研究生课程或获得顶尖博士后职位时更具竞争力。来自新系统的数据将在同行评议的期刊上发表，并通过学生和教师在区域或国家会议上的发言来传播。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Major Research Instrumentation-Recovery and Reinvestment (MRI-R2) award funds the purchase of a confocal microscope to support a diverse array of research and teaching activities at New Mexico State University. The instrument will be housed in NMSU's centralized microscopy facilities and administered by the Electron Microscopy Laboratory to improve current and future research and training for the university and surrounding community. The new confocal microscope will support research in cellular and developmental biology, neurobiology, animal/microbial interactions, plant molecular biology, nanotechnology and chemical biology. The projects will take advantage of the microscope's ability to perform tandem scanning for live cell imaging, a spectral detector to separate overlapping spectra, which will be essential for applications requiring non-traditional excitation/emission spectra. The new system substantially broadens the research capacities of faculty members and of graduate and undergraduate students, enhancing careers in multiple scientific fields. The new instrumentation also offers significant opportunities for research training and education. The 18 participating investigators mentor over 100 graduate and undergraduate students, (60% female, 57% underrepresented minorities), and these numbers reflect a history of commitment to the recruitment and training of women and other underrepresented groups. The system will be used in support of educational and outreach activities including the continued offering of 2 courses, the introduction of confocal microscopy in other existing Biology courses and demonstrations for STEM programs aimed at recruiting and enhancing the research skills of women and underrepresented minority students and faculty at NMSU and throughout the state of New Mexico. The opportunity for students to use state-of the- art fluorescent imaging and analytical tools will profoundly impact their research projects, rendering them more competitive in gaining entry to top graduate programs or obtaining top postdoctoral positions. Data from the new system will be disseminated by publication in peer-reviewed journals, and by student and faculty presentations are regional or national meetings.