Acquisition of a Tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer by the Earth Science Department at Vassar College, a PUI

PUI 瓦萨学院地球科学系购买了台式扫描电子显微镜和能量色散光谱仪

• 批准号: 2147718
• 负责人: Laura Haynes
• 金额: $ 16.94万
• 依托单位: Vassar College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-15 至 2025-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2147718&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; Tabletop; Scanning; Electron; Microscope

Acquisition of a Tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with an Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (EDS) for research, teaching, and public outreach has been granted to the Vassar College Earth Science Department. Scanning Electron Microscopes are powerful instruments used for imaging natural and manufactured materials beyond the capabilities of traditional light microscopes. Our department will use the SEM-EDS to support new research in understanding past climate and ocean change, in the evolution of mountain belts, and past volcanic eruptions, providing research opportunities for undergraduates at every stage of their college experience. PI Haynes will investigate how microscopic fossils called foraminifera record ocean acidification events in the geologic past. These shells of these creatures are ubiquitous in the geologic record and help to ground-truth the impacts of large warming events on the Earth system and its ecosystems. This SEM will form a significant portion of PI Haynes’ research toolkit, supporting her establishment as an early-career scientist and providing opportunities for undergraduate research in her laboratory. The SEM-EDS will also be used at all levels of our curriculum; for example, students will have the instrument available to them as a tool to be used for final projects of their own design, providing primary research experience. Finally, new programming will be designed in our department’s Geological Museum that will help co-create new exhibits with SEM imagery collected with our local community members. We aim to increase the impact of our local museum to generate interest and connection with Earth Science topics and the Vassar community at large as well as marginalized members of the Poughkeepsie community. This award will support two summer undergraduate research assistants to design and implement these efforts in local science communication. We believe that this programming will significantly increase the impact of our local museum and create a regional hub for natural history education. A newly acquired Phenom-XL Tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with an Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (EDS) will be used for research, teaching, and public outreach in the Vassar College Earth Science Department. In PI Haynes’ lab, the SEM will be used to assess the mineral structure, preservation, and morphology of fossils and microfossils, primarily foraminifera. Using sediments collected from the International Ocean Discovery Program’s recent Expedition 378, PI Haynes will investigate the record of climate and ocean change recorded by foraminifera microfossils during rapid warming events of the Eocene epoch (45-57 Ma). The SEM will be utilized to 1) address primary questions in the evolution of foraminifera morphology, taxonomy, and physiology, and 2) diagnose whether and to what degree shell diagenesis and contamination biases geochemical records of past ocean acidification. In Co-PI Walker’s lab, the SEM-EDS system will be used to investigate clay mineral formation and geochemistry. Co-PI Menking’s research aims reconstruct the terrestrial paleoclimate history as recorded by lake sediments, notably in sediments of the Pleistocene Lake Estancia and lakes from central New York, using this instrument to investigate changes in sediment composition as well as determine diatom taxonomy, two important indicators of past environmental change. In addition, the investigators will use the instrument to characterize microplastics and in reconstructing volcanic eruption histories via zoning and microbubbles in minerals. This award received cofounding from the Marine Geology and Geophysics (MGG) program in the Ocean Science division.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.

瓦萨学院地球科学系获得了一台带有能量色散X射线光谱仪（EDS）的台式扫描电子显微镜（SEM），用于研究、教学和公共宣传。扫描电子显微镜是一种功能强大的仪器，用于对自然和人工材料进行成像，超出了传统光学显微镜的能力。我们的部门将使用SEM-EDS来支持新的研究，以了解过去的气候和海洋变化，在山区带的演变，以及过去的火山爆发，为本科生在他们的大学经历的每一个阶段提供研究机会。PI Haynes将研究称为有孔虫的微观化石如何记录地质历史中的海洋酸化事件。这些生物的外壳在地质记录中无处不在，有助于了解大型变暖事件对地球系统及其生态系统的影响。该SEM将成为PI Haynes研究工具包的重要组成部分，支持她作为早期职业科学家的建立，并为她实验室的本科研究提供机会。SEM-EDS也将用于我们课程的各个层面;例如，学生将有工具提供给他们作为一个工具，用于自己设计的最终项目，提供主要的研究经验。最后，我们部门的地质博物馆将设计新的节目，这将有助于与我们当地社区成员收集的SEM图像共同创建新的展品。我们的目标是增加我们当地博物馆的影响，以产生兴趣和地球科学主题和瓦萨社区在整个以及波基普西社区的边缘化成员的连接。该奖项将支持两个暑期本科研究助理设计和实施这些努力在当地科学传播。我们相信，这项计划将大大增加我们当地博物馆的影响，并创造一个自然历史教育的区域中心。一个新获得的现象XL台式扫描电子显微镜（SEM）与能量色散X射线光谱仪（EDS）将用于研究，教学和公众宣传在瓦萨学院地球科学系。在PI Haynes的实验室，SEM将用于评估化石和微体化石（主要是有孔虫）的矿物结构、保存和形态。利用从国际海洋发现计划最近的378远征收集的沉积物，PI Haynes将调查始新世（45-57 Ma）快速变暖事件期间有孔虫微化石记录的气候和海洋变化记录。SEM将用于1）解决有孔虫形态学，分类学和生理学演化中的主要问题，2）诊断贝壳成岩作用和污染是否以及在多大程度上影响过去海洋酸化的地球化学记录。在Co-PI步行者的实验室中，SEM-EDS系统将用于研究粘土矿物的形成和地球化学。合作PI Menking的研究旨在重建湖泊沉积物记录的陆地古气候历史，特别是更新世埃斯坦西亚湖和纽约中部湖泊的沉积物，使用该仪器调查沉积物成分的变化以及确定硅藻分类，这是过去环境变化的两个重要指标。此外，研究人员将使用该仪器来表征微塑料，并通过矿物中的分区和微气泡来重建火山喷发历史。 该奖项由海洋科学部的海洋地质学和地球物理学（MGG）项目共同创立。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。