Early Career: Acquisition of a Three-Spectrometer, High-Definition Scanning Electron Microscope for Research and Education in the Geosciences

密苏里大学将获得一台专门设计的高清扫描电子显微镜（SEM），用于研究5.5亿年前动物生命初期保存下来的软体化石。保存软组织的高分辨率矿化照片可以扩展对动物生命进化的理解，而不仅仅是构成大部分化石记录的骨骼、牙齿或外壳。新的仪器可以破译化石解剖的哪些方面反映了原始的生物学和进化意义，哪些方面反映了死后的腐烂、石化和矿化过程。该仪器的图像将用于密苏里大学艺术与考古博物馆的科学与艺术互动展览。密苏里大学将获得一台三分光仪，高清晰度，可变压力扫描电子显微镜（SEM），以支持古生物学和地球化学的研究和教育活动。高度精确的成分分析将与亚纳米成像分辨率相结合，以表征各种地球科学样品的矿物学特征。该仪器和相关人员将支持埃迪卡拉-寒武纪过渡时期动物生命初期软组织化石保存的特殊案例研究，这是一个生物和地质系统密切相互作用的时期。这位早期职业生涯的首席研究员将为教师、博士后研究人员和研究生提供定制SEM培训，并为高中生和公众开发一个关于“日常世界科学”的博物馆项目。

The University of Missouri will acquire a custom-designed, high-definition Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for research on preserved soft-body fossils from the dawn of animal life about 550 million years ago. High-resolution photos of mineralization that preserves soft tissue can expand the understanding of the evolution of animal life beyond the bones, teeth, or shells that make up the bulk of the fossil record. The new instrument can decipher what aspects of fossil anatomy reflect original biology and evolutionary significance and what reflect post-mortem decay, fossilization, and mineralization processes. Images from the instrument will be used in an interactive science-and-art exhibit at the University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology.The University of Missouri will acquire a three-spectrometer, high-definition, variable-pressure scanning electron microscope (SEM) to support research and educational activities in paleobiology and geochemistry. Highly accurate compositional analysis will be coupled with sub-nanometer imaging resolution to characterize the mineralogy of a wide array of Earth science samples. This instrument and associated personnel will support research on the exceptional cases of soft-tissue fossil preservation at the dawn of animal life across the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition, which is a time of close interaction between biological and geological systems. The early-career principal investigator will provide training on the custom SEM to faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students as well as develop a museum program on the "science of the everyday world" for high-school students and the general public.