Acquisition of a Transmission Electron Microscope for Undergraduate Research and Teaching

该NSF MRI赠款资助Randolph-Macon College（R-MC）购买透射电子显微镜（TEM）。R-MC是一个小型的文科和理科机构，具有悠久的本科生研究传统。教师保持积极的研究计划，并以多种方式指导本科研究生，包括学分独立研究，顶点研究项目，并在夏季通过赋予夏皮罗本科研究奖学金（SURF）计划。TEM的收购将大大提高R-MC的研究和教学环境，使本科研究人员能够使用最先进的设备，这将促进来自各种背景的学生进入科学的招聘状态。TEM支持的研究项目涵盖生命科学的广泛领域，包括：哺乳动物精子顶体基质蛋白的区室化，以了解它们在受精中的作用;评估养育反应如何影响大鼠的神经可塑性;新真菌物种中运动细胞的超微结构分析;苔藓虫Bugula neritina及其细菌共生体中宿主-共生体相互作用的特征;以及了解在小鼠热量限制期间T细胞自噬的调节。还将与其他机构的研究人员开展合作研究。此外，TEM将用于几个本科课程，包括一个新的高级显微镜课程，学生将学习标本制备，数字图像采集和电子显微镜分析。 现有的和新开发的推广计划将吸引当地公立学校的学生参与项目和示范，以激发他们对科学的兴趣。

This NSF MRI grant funds the acquisition of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) at Randolph-Macon College (R-MC). R-MC is a small liberal arts and sciences institution with a long tradition of undergraduate student research. Faculty members maintain active research programs and mentor undergraduate research students in several ways, including credit-bearing independent studies, capstone research projects, and through the endowed Shapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program during the summer. Acquisition of a TEM will greatly enhance the research and teaching environment at R-MC by enabling undergraduate researchers to use state of the art equipment that will promote recruitment of students from all backgrounds into the sciences. Research projects to be supported by the TEM span a broad range of the life sciences and include: compartmentalization of mammalian sperm acrosomal matrix proteins to understand their role in fertilization; evaluating how parenting responses affect neuroplasticity in rats; ultrastructural analysis of motile cells in new fungal species; characterization of host-symbiont interactions in the bryozoan Bugula neritina and its bacterial symbionts; and understanding the regulation of autophagy in T cells during calorie restriction in mice. Collaborative research with investigators at other institutions will also be enabled. In addition, the TEM will be used in several undergraduate courses, including a new Advanced Microscopy course in which students will learn specimen preparation, digital image acquisition, and analysis of electron micrographs. Existing and newly developed outreach programs will engage students from local public schools in projects and demonstrations to stimulate their interest in science.