FSML-Enhanced Cooperative Radiochemistry Research and Education at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

毕格罗海洋科学实验室 FSML 加强放射化学合作研究和教育

• 批准号: 1318385
• 负责人: William Balch
• 金额: $ 11.16万
• 依托单位: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-15 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1318385&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: FSML; Enhanced; Cooperative; Radiochemistry; Research

Bigelow Laboratory is awarded a grant to outfit their new Radiochemistry Facility with 1) a Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC) for low-level counting, 2) two dedicated, stackable incubators for maintaining radiochemistry experiments at different temperature and light conditions and 3) two photosynthetron incubators with dedicated water baths for measuring photobiological rates of phytoplankton as a function of light intensity. Indeed, this equipment is critical to the functionality of the facility as well as the very mission of the laboratory. The ability to accurately measure radio-tracers has been at the very core of Bigelow Laboratory?s primary goal, "to understand key processes driving the world's ocean ecosystems, their evolution, and their fundamental relationship to life on Earth." This FSML request for radiochemistry equipment will allow the PIs to maintain preeminence in the measurement of microbial rates in the sea. Bigelow Laboratory's senior research scientists work with ocean viruses, bacteria, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and lower invertebrates. They no longer study just the processes of the euphotic zone but have added major research programs including atmospheric chemistry, hydrothermal vent communities, and microbes of the deep geosphere. What unifies all these groups is the need to measure rates: biological rates (uptake, assimilation, growth, mortality, grazing) and chemical rates (oxidation, reduction, gas exchange/ equilibration). Radiotracer technologies still represent one of the best ways to quantitatively (and directly) measure such rates in the sea. Broader ImpactsThis research equipment will be involved in the training of current and future Bigelow postdoctoral researchers, working at the interface between microbial ecology, physiology, molecular biology, and biogeochemistry. A significant part of Bigelow Laboratory's mission is education and it has a strong outreach program. Co-PIs in this proposal are involved in teaching the Colby semester-in-residence program as well as Colby's January Program ("Jan-plan"). Specific details and scientific results from the LSC will be incorporated into the curriculum of our undergraduate students so they can learn the fundamentals of tracer experiments and the technology associated with the LSC. Bigelow Laboratory's Café Scientifique lecture series promotes public engagement with cutting-edge scientific research, of the sort made possible by this equipment, making science more accessible to a broader audience. All PIs on this project will participate in this increasingly popular program. Finally, the ability of Bigelow Laboratory to perform radiotracer research on society-relevant research in fields such as harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification, eutrophication, carbon cycling, etc., has completely relied on an aged LSC that is no longer serviceable and data that cannot be accessed electronically. Thus, this new LSC and associated equipment for the Bigelow Radiochemistry Facility will further the continuation

毕格罗实验室获拨款为其新的放射化学设施配备：1)一个液体闪烁计数器（LSC），用于低浓度计数；2)两个专用的可叠加孵化器，用于在不同温度和光照条件下进行放射化学实验；3)两个光合加速器孵化器，配有专用水浴，用于测量浮游植物的光生物速率（光强度的函数）。事实上，这些设备对设施的功能以及实验室的使命至关重要。精确测量放射性示踪剂的能力一直是毕格罗实验室的核心。他的主要目标是“了解推动世界海洋生态系统的关键过程，它们的进化，以及它们与地球上生命的基本关系。”FSML对放射化学设备的要求将使pi在海洋微生物率的测量中保持领先地位。毕格罗实验室的高级研究科学家研究海洋病毒、细菌、浮游植物、浮游动物和低等无脊椎动物。他们不再仅仅研究光带的过程，而是增加了主要的研究项目，包括大气化学、热液喷口群落和深层地圈的微生物。将所有这些群体统一起来的是需要测量速率：生物速率（吸收、同化、生长、死亡、放牧）和化学速率（氧化、还原、气体交换/平衡）。放射性示踪技术仍然是定量（和直接）测量海洋中这种速率的最佳方法之一。更广泛的影响该研究设备将参与培训当前和未来的毕格罗博士后研究人员，在微生物生态学，生理学，分子生物学和生物地球化学之间的界面工作。毕格罗实验室的一个重要使命是教育，它有一个强有力的外展计划。该提案中的合作项目负责人将参与教授科尔比大学的学期驻校项目以及科尔比大学的一月项目（Jan-plan）。LSC的具体细节和科学成果将被纳入我们本科生的课程，以便他们学习示踪实验的基础知识和与LSC相关的技术。毕格罗实验室的cafe<s:1>科学系列讲座促进了公众对尖端科学研究的参与，这些研究是由这种设备实现的，使科学更容易被更广泛的受众所接受。这个项目的所有pi都将参与这个越来越受欢迎的项目。最后，毕格罗实验室在有害藻华、海洋酸化、富营养化、碳循环等领域进行与社会相关的放射性示踪剂研究的能力，完全依赖于一台老化的LSC，它不再可用，数据也无法通过电子方式获取。因此，这个新的LSC和Bigelow放射化学设施的相关设备将进一步延续