MRI: Acquisition of a laser scanning confocal microscope to support faculty-student collaborative scholarship at a research-intensive liberal arts college

授予富兰克林马歇尔学院的激光扫描共聚焦显微镜，这将使细胞，组织和其他材料的研究在高分辨率，不能实现与传统的光学显微镜，从而允许在研究和教学的新问题的调查。来自F M（生物学，化学，数学和计算机科学，物理学和天文学以及心理学）多个部门的教师和学生，来自其他高等教育机构，包括米勒斯维尔大学和伊丽莎白敦学院，以及来自兰开斯特学区的多元化群体将使用基于激光的显微镜系统进行最先进的图像捕获和分析。除了师生合作研究项目外，共聚焦显微镜还将为每年约170名科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）本科生和55名城市高中生的庞大而多样化的群体提供尖端的研究经验。学生将在从高中生物学到高级神经生物学的课程中观察和测量染色或活细胞，并将研究免疫系统，癌症和发育。显微镜将大大有助于第一代大学生（约15%的F M的学生人口）和代表性不足的群体的教育。共聚焦显微镜将为本科生提供研究机会，将研究型大学常见的技术与直接的教师指导相结合，这是F M文科教育的标志。共聚焦还将加强当地的研究基础设施，提高妇女和代表性不足的群体对科学的参与。高品质的，最先进的仪器将提高FM的能力，提供最新的培训给学生，并提供外展，以培养下一代的科学家。共聚焦显微镜将提高许多教师谁研究的陆生和水生微生物，植物和动物的各种主题的科学发现，从细胞过程的基本机制，生物力学，发展和认知，并将有助于提供高质量的研究机会，本科生。将使用共聚焦显微镜功能范围的项目包括：参与植物种子形成的基因表达;海马树突作为空间使用功能的修饰;哺乳动物大脑发育的新细胞机制;大脑皮层不同区域脑细胞功能的计算机模拟;参与炎症的NLR蛋白的表征;心脏和骨骼发育关键蛋白质的分布;肿瘤抑制蛋白质的信号调节;斜纹肌细胞的形态。在附近的米勒斯维尔大学和伊丽莎白敦学院的研究重点是随着时间的推移不断演变的微生物多样性的空间模式，海龟壳形成过程中的细胞迁移，以及水生水螅物种的细胞应激反应将随着显微镜的使用而增强，从而实现多样化的科学发现。

An award is made to Franklin & Marshall College for a laser scanning confocal microscope that will enable the study of cells, tissues, and other materials at high resolution that cannot be achieved with traditional light microscopy, and thus allow investigation of new questions in both research and teaching. A diverse group of faculty and students from multiple departments at F&M (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, and Psychology), from other institutions of higher education including Millersville University and Elizabethtown College, and from the School District of Lancaster will use the laser-based microscope system for state-of-the-art image capture and analysis. In addition to student-faculty collaborative research projects, the confocal microscope will enable cutting-edge research experiences for a large and diverse group of about 170 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) undergraduates and 55 urban high school students annually. Students will view and measure stained or living cells in courses from high school biology to advanced neurobiology and will investigate the immune system, cancer, and development. The microscope will contribute significantly to the education of first-generation college students (about 15% of F&M's student population) and underrepresented groups. The confocal microscope will provide research opportunities for undergraduates that integrate technology common at research universities with direct faculty mentoring that is the hallmark of a liberal arts education at F&M. The confocal will also enhance local research infrastructure and increase the participation of women and underrepresented groups in science. The high quality, state-of-the-art instrument will enhance F&M's ability to offer up-to-date training to students and provide outreach to train the next generation of scientists.The confocal microscope will enhance the scientific findings of many faculty who study a diverse range of topics in terrestrial and aquatic microbes, plants and animals, from fundamental mechanisms of cellular processes to biomechanics, development and cognition, and will help offer high-quality research opportunities to undergraduates. Projects that will use the range of capabilities of the confocal microscope include: gene expression involved in the formation of plant seeds; modification of hippocampal dendrites as a function of space use; novel cellular mechanisms of mammalian brain development; computer simulations of brain cell function in different regions of cortex; characterization of NLR proteins involved in inflammation; distribution of proteins critical for heart and skeletal development; signaling regulation of tumor suppressor proteins; and the morphology of obliquely striated muscle cells. Research at nearby Millersville University and Elizabethtown College focused on evolving spatial patterns of microbes diversity over time, migration of cells during turtle shell formation, and cellular stress responses of aquatic Hydra species will be enhanced with access to the microscope allowing diverse scientific discoveries.