MRI: Acquisition of a Micro Photonics SkyScan 1273 High-Energy Micro-CT Scanner for Research and Training in the HSU College of Natural Resources & Sciences

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An award is made to Humboldt State University (HSU) to purchase a Micro Photonics SkyScan 1273 Desktop High Energy MicroCT scanner system, to serve as a major addition to a shared-user Core Facility in the College of Natural Resources and Sciences. The Biology/CNRS Core Facility represents the first major endeavor on the HSU campus to create a truly interdisciplinary, shared-use facility in the sciences. The MicroCT scanner will serve as a keystone addition to the facility by bringing together student and faculty researchers from departments across the college, including Biological Sciences, Fisheries Biology, and Geology. By adding a microCT scanner to the facility, the ability to train undergraduate and graduate students in the sciences will be greatly increased. More specifically, the instrument will enhance the experience of students in the Instrumental Methods in Geology course. HSU has a student population that is more than 43% underrepresented minority students, and has the greatest concentration of Native American students in the California State University system. Through programs such as the Indian Natural Resources and Science Program (INRSEP), these students will be trained on a modern research instrument, enabling them to more readily pursue careers in science.An in-house microCT scanner at HSU will greatly facilitate research projects such as: mapping the detailed three dimensional anatomy of amphibian noses, to better understand their adaptation to land vs. water; developing new techniques for assessing sudden oak death oomycete infection of plants and associated soils, helping to control the spread of this pathogen; understanding form and ecological function of the skeletal structures of marine invertebrates; understanding the physical processes that occur during magma mingling events, which is critical to improving our ability to accurately model and predict volcanic eruptions; expanding the investigation into conformation of rodent occlusal surfaces to three dimensions, providing more informative points by which to place fossils, and resulting in more accurate time calibrated phylogenies; resolving fish otolith (inner ear bone) structure in three dimensions, which will allow for more sophisticated assessment of growth patterns across developmental transitions, and aid in maintenance of healthy fish stocks; developing new ways to detect differences between cryptic species of bryozoans; studying three-dimensional diversification of baculum morphology among chipmunks, to assess the covariation of morphology and genetic relatedness; documenting the diversity of seed-cone anatomy to better understand the diversification of conifers; and comparing inner ear structures across the groups of cartilaginous fishes, to understand ecomorphological relations that can be extrapolated to interpret the ecology of fossil species.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.