MRI: Acquisition of a Confocal Microscope to Enhance Undergraduate Research and Education at Hope College.

霍普学院被授予购买尼康A1激光扫描共聚焦显微镜系统的奖励，该系统将为翻新的显微镜设施提供基石，并改变生物、化学、地质和环境科学系的广泛研究项目。简而言之，研究项目包括利用具有良好特性的模式生物秀丽线虫(线虫)和斑马鱼(Danio Rerio)对干细胞发育的调节，研究神经细胞膜运输分子，海胆脊椎骨骼晶体取向的三维表面成像，生殖激素分泌对神经元功能的影响，参与细胞生长和血管生成的蛋白质的作用，检查与单分子化学的相互作用，以及利用寄生虫贾第鞭毛虫研究DNA结合蛋白的进化生物学。获得共焦显微镜的一个重大影响是，研究人员将能够扩大他们在更高光学质量水平上收集数据的能力，从而使他们能够进行更复杂的实验，特别是使用活样本，其中时间进程和分子定位研究至关重要。此外，共焦显微镜的使用将使研究人员能够保持各自领域对数据公布标准的期望，从而使他们在争取外部研究资金方面更具竞争力。获得一台共焦显微镜将在两个主要方面改变希望学院社区和其他社区。第一个主要影响是将有大量本科生研究人员接受共焦显微镜培训，其中包括被夏季希望学术研究计划录取的希望大学学生和非希望大学本科生。此外，暑期研究项目包括被霍普大学跨文化研究体验项目录取的高中生和教师，该项目的重点是从科学界代表性不足的人群中招收学生。利用共聚焦显微镜等尖端技术，积极聘请霍普学院的本科生和高中研究人员进行实验室培训，结果是这些学生中的许多人继续攻读科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域的博士学位。第二个主要影响是，参与这些项目的调查人员经常向公众展示他们的研究。通过使用尖端技术收集数据，他们可以向公众展示更具吸引力的项目，目标是：1)让更多的人参与科学过程，2)展示研究项目的相关性，主题从细胞功能到对当地生态的环境影响，以及3)招募有才华的学生进入STEM领域作为职业。

An award is made to Hope College for the purchase of a Nikon A1 laser scanning confocal microscope system that will provide the cornerstone for the renovated microscopy facility and transform a wide range of research projects in the departments of biology, chemistry and geological and environmental sciences. Briefly, research projects include regulation of stem cells during development using the well-characterized model organisms Caenorhabditis elegans (nematode) and Danio rerio (zebrafish), the study of membrane trafficking molecules in neurons, 3D surface imaging of skeletal crystal orientation in sea urchin spines, effects of reproductive hormone secretion on the function of neurons, the role of proteins involved in cell growth and angiogenesis, examining interactions with single molecule chemistry, and evolutionary biology studying DNA binding proteins using the parasite, Giardia lamblia. A significant impact with the acquisition of a confocal microscope is that investigators will be able to expand their abilities to collect data at a higher level of optical quality, thus enabling them to perform more complex experiments, especially using live samples, in which time course and molecular localization studies are critical. Furthermore, use of the confocal microscope will allow investigators to maintain the expectations of their respective fields in data publishing standards, thus, allowing them to be more competitive for external research funding. Acquiring a confocal microscope will transform the Hope College community and beyond in two major ways. The first major impact is the large number of undergraduate researchers that will receive training on the confocal microscope, which includes both Hope College students and non-Hope undergraduates accepted for the Summer Hope Academic Research Program. Additionally, the summer research programs include high school students and teachers accepted into the Research Experience Across Cultures at Hope, which focuses on recruiting students from under-represented populations in the sciences. The result of actively engaging undergraduate and high school researchers at Hope College for laboratory training using cutting edge technology, such as confocal microscopy, is that many of these students go on to pursue a PhD in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The second major impact is that the investigators involved in these projects routinely present their research to the general public. By collecting data using cutting edge technology, they can present more compelling projects to the public with the goals of: 1) engaging more people in the scientific process, 2) demonstrating the relevance of the research projects, ranging in topics from cellular function to environmental impacts on local ecology and 3) recruiting talented students into the STEM fields as a career.