MRI-R2: Acquisition of Instrumentation in Support of Terrestrial, Nearshore and Marine Ecosystems Collaborative Research at the University of Alaska Southeast

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Funds from the NSF MRI-R2 program have been award to the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) for the purchase of analytical equipment that builds capacity for ecological studies. The new equipment includes a fluorescence spectrophotometer, an ion chromatography system, a mass spectrometer, a high speed centrifuge, a FIRe chlorophyll analysis system, a qPCR system, a tissueLyser and a PCR machine. Research supported by the new instruments includes: contaminant transport and attenuation; organic and inorganic nutrient cycling and availability; physiological ecology of marine macrophytes; and crustacean physiology studies. Collectively, the equipment provides for detailed and integrated assessments of the biological and chemical processes that drive the ecological diversity of southeastern Alaska. The science faculty at UAS recognizes that remote and local changes affect southeast Alaskan ecosystems and these impacts in turn affect the Alaskan economy. The new instrumentation facilitates cross-discipline studies and cultivates a transformative research program that contributes to economically diverse, sustainable and viable Alaskan ecosystems. The UAS faculty is committed to programs rooted in its unique natural setting as well as the use of technology in these programs that augment the scope and applicability of the student experience. Faculty-mentored undergraduate research in biology and environmental science is been a primary mechanism for fulfilling these commitments. The new instrumentation further expands scientific research opportunities for undergraduates at UAS. The acquisition also fosters training on equipment that has become standard in science-based careers. UAS is ideally situated for multidisciplinary studies of terrestrial and near-shore ecosystems and in particular, for investigations of climate change since this contemporary issue will have its most immediate impacts at higher latitudes. The need for adequately trained scientists pursuing explorations of the changing natural processes of these regions is critical. Results from the research enabled by the new equipment will be published in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated through student and faculty presentations at regional and national meetings.