RAPID: PetCAT-Scan: A high definition scanning tool for geoscientists in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

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This RAPID award provides support for a high definition thin section scanner to establish the PetCAT-Scan facility at Kansas State University. This facility will help Midwestern universities rapidly develop their optical microscopy-based instructional resources online during this period associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Students will be able to observe and analyze petrographic thin sections online, transforming their personal tablet/smartphone/computer in a ‘Virtual Microscope’. This facility will also be used for ongoing, and future, research by Kansas State University geoscientists and will improve data management and the development of an open access virtual thin section library.Moving from in-person to on-line teaching has become a requirement for most faculty worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most challenging classes to teach online is Petrology, because it relies on access to microscopes and thin sections. With the possibility that many universities will continue online instruction, how to transition other courses that involve optical microscope work (e.g., mineralogy, sedimentology-stratigraphy, structural geology), and how to improve on current efforts to provide instruction in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary petrology, will become essential. The PetCAT-Scan facility will assist with these efforts and increase open access resources. Furthermore, with limited access to research labs, the facility will provide critical access to virtual petrographic imagery of research samples.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.