MRI: Acquisition of a Scanning Electron Microscope to Enhance Undergraduate and Graduate Research and Teaching in Biology, Chemistry and Earth and Space Sciences

授予哥伦布州立大学，佐治亚大学系统，以获得扫描电子显微镜（SEM），以支持和扩大生物系，化学系和地球与空间科学系内的各种研究项目。最终，将扫描电镜技术纳入哥伦布州立大学的课程将直接增加本科生和研究生对研究的参与，并鼓励学生追求专业生物学家、化学家、环境科学家和地质学家的职业。直接与教师合作的学生将使用扫描电镜技术来加强正在进行的研究项目，这些项目涉及大学的野外遗址、博物馆收藏、植物标本馆收藏以及分子和化学实验室。包括SEM经验的研究将为目前在自然科学领域代表性不足的群体开辟新的机会。SEM将为招聘提供外展机会，并招募高中学生进入STEM领域；哥伦布州立大学还将与地区两年制院校合作，视情况将SEM作为其科学课程的一部分。扫描电镜技术还将被纳入正在进行的STEM夏令营，该夏令营针对当地高中，以强调自然和生物医学科学领域的潜在职业。我们期望一些参与的学生将从事包括但不限于：生态学、分类学、系统学、生态遗传学、昆虫学、化学和地质学等领域的职业。该项目将直接吸引哥伦布州立大学的教职员工、研究生和本科生，他们来自不同的学科，如生物学、授粉生态学、保护遗传学、昆虫学、植物生态学、环境科学、地质学和化学，仅举几例。这项研究最终将有助于我们对自然科学的理解，包括对地球生物和物理多样性的理解。在许多情况下，由哥伦布州立大学教师、本科生和研究生进行的研究现在都可以使用扫描电镜技术。例如，通过扫描电镜技术分析花粉形态将使研究人员能够验证分子工具获得的结果，并提供目前缺乏数据的解决方案。特别是，扫描电镜将用于花粉DNA条形码的物种鉴定和验证，以及哥伦布州立大学本科和研究生教育的一些教育、策展和生物信息学项目的开发和使用。反过来，这将极大地促进利用DNA条形码记录全球生物多样性的国际合作。

An award is made to Columbus State University, University System of Georgia, to acquire a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to support and expand a diverse group of research programs within the Department of Biology, Department of Chemistry and the Department of Earth and Space Science. Ultimately, the incorporation of SEM technology to the curriculum of Columbus State University will directly increase undergraduate and graduate participation in research and encourage students to pursue careers as professional biologists, chemists, environmental scientists and geologists. Students working directly with faculty will use SEM technology to enhance on-going research programs that involve the university's field sites, museum collections, herbarium collections and molecular and chemistry laboratories. Research that includes an SEM experience will open up new opportunities to groups that are currently underrepresented in the Natural Sciences. The SEM will facilitate outreach opportunities for recruitment as well as the recruitment of high school students to STEM fields; Columbus State University will also work with regional two-year institutions that will make the SEM a part of their science courses as appropriate. SEM technology will also be incorporated into on-going STEM summer camps that target local high schools to underscore potential careers in the natural and biomedical sciences. The expectation is that some of the participating students will pursue careers including but not limited to: ecology, taxonomy, systematics, ecological genetics, entomology, chemistry and geology. This project will directly engage Columbus State University faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students across a diverse collection of disciplines such as biology, pollination ecology, conservation genetics, entomology, plant ecology, environmental science, geology and chemistry, to name a few. This research will ultimately aid in our understanding of the Natural Sciences, including the biological and physical diversity of the planet. In many cases research conducted by Columbus State University faculty, undergraduate and graduate students can now move forward with the use of SEM technology. For example, the analysis of pollen morphology by SEM technology will allow researchers to verify results obtained by molecular tools and provide resolution where data is currently absent. In particular, the SEM will be used for species identification and verification of pollen DNA barcodes as well as in the development and use of a number of educational, curatorial and bioinformatics programs for undergraduate and graduate education at Columbus State University. In turn, this would greatly facilitate international collaborations to utilize DNA barcoding to document global biodiversity.