MRI: Acquistition of an Integrated Gas Exchange and Fluorescence Instrument for Multidisciplinary Physiological Research

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An award is made to Grinnell College to support biology research and education with a major research instrument for diverse studies of physiology. The instrument, the LI-6400XT, will have an immediate impact on active research by faculty and their advanced undergraduate students, and it well help biology students in several courses learn by research, the most effective kind of science education. Grinnell College has a deep commitment to providing quality science education and research training to all students, including those traditionally underrepresented in the sciences. This instrument will support Grinnell's commitment, beginning with the incoming-student lab experiences of the nationally recognized Grinnell Science Project, and weaving through every level of our biology curriculum. This research instrument will enrich student learning, facilitating authentic research experiences that generate high-quality outcomes.Representing the foremost technology available for real-time analysis of photosynthesis (i.e., carbon dioxide uptake) and respiration (i.e., carbon dioxide output), the LI-6400XT will find immediate use in research projects in plant physiology, plant ecology, fungal biology, and biogeochemistry. Portable, flexible, and allowing control of light, temperature, and humidity, the instrument enables measurements in a wide range of living systems and settings, from prokaryotes and fungi, to plants, animals, and soils; and from laboratories to remote field sites. The multiple functions of the LI-6400XT will provide new means to investigate significant questions about what controls: (1) plant acclimation to temperature stress; (2) plant adaptation to drought; (3) decomposition by prokaryotes and fungi in drylands; and (4) how the carbon cycle operates in river floodplains.