MRI: Acquisition of an SEM-EDS system to further multidisciplinary scientific inquiry and discovery in Western New York

这笔赠款将为弗雷多尼亚的纽约州立大学(SUNY)购买一台配备能量色散X射线能谱(EDS)探测器的扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和相关设备。这一集成设备将为纽约州立大学弗雷多尼亚分校的学生和教职员工提供成像非常微小的物体并确定它们的化学成分的能力。扫描电子显微镜-能谱仪将是通用的，并将用于从化石到岩石标本到薄片幻灯片到生物标本的各种对象上。SEM-EDS系统将加强学生和教师在多个学科领域的研究和教育机会，如人类学/考古学、生物学、化学、地质学、环境科学和科学教育。学生使用SEM-EDS将培养分析技能、仪器操作和数据评估的技术经验，并为他们在科学领域的职业生涯做好更好的准备。此外，SEM-EDS将使我们社区和地区以及我们地区学区的发展伙伴关系能够利用下一代科学家的体验式学习机会。项目人员将准备将SEM-EDS调查与纽约州下一代科学标准相联系的外联计划和视频模块。通过在纽约州立大学弗里多尼亚分校促进新的合作以及与其他校园、教育机构和潜在的非营利合作伙伴的合作，SEM-EDS系统将增加地区研究机会。目前，这笔拨款将允许地质与环境科学系、生物学系和化学系的一系列研究项目。计划中的研究包括：1)使用扫描电子显微镜-能谱仪对具有代表性的基岩样品中的矿物进行化学表征，以更好地了解导致地壳演化的变质和部分熔融过程；2)利用扫描电子显微镜成像，更好地了解节肢动物化石的演化；3)提高我们对软组织石化过程的理解，这些软组织很少被保存在古生物记录中；4)对一个接触前的美洲原住民村庄的一个具有约500年历史的考古半地下坑的薄片进行化学分析，这些标本可能被用来处理人类厕所的废物；5)使用扫描电子显微镜分析沙粒的微观结构，以更好地重建某些地貌的起源(例如，风吹沙丘与河流输送的堤坝)；6)通过扫描电子显微镜图像识别湖泊和溪流中的硅藻物种，以帮助确定现代水质条件以及作为更广泛的古湖泊研究的一部分过去的环境变化；7)使用扫描电子显微镜-能谱仪对所谓的纳米簇催化剂的表面进行化学表征，作为可能的非化石燃料替代能源；和，8)使用扫描电子显微镜成像来研究北美树蟋蟀微观特征的快速多样性和分类学重要性。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This grant will purchase for the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) detector and related equipment. This integrated device will provide students and faculty at SUNY Fredonia the ability to image very tiny objects and to determine their chemical composition. The SEM-EDS will be versatile and be employed on a variety of objects from fossils to rock specimens to thin-section slides to biological specimens. The SEM-EDS system will enhance student-faculty research and educational opportunities across multiple academic disciplines such as anthropology/archaeology, biology, chemistry, geology, environmental sciences, and science education. Student use of SEM-EDS will foster analytical skills, technical experience in instrument operation and data evaluation, and better prepare them for careers in science. In addition, the SEM-EDS will allow for the development partnerships across our community and region, as well as in our regional school districts, to capitalize on experiential learning opportunities for the next generation of scientists. Project personnel will prepare outreach programs and video modules linking SEM-EDS investigation to New York State Next Generation Science Standards.The SEM-EDS system will enhance regional research opportunities by promoting new collaborations across the SUNY Fredonia campus and with researchers at other campuses, educational institutions, and potentially non-profit partners. Currently, this grant will allow a range of research projects from the departments of Geology & Environmental Sciences, Biology, and Chemistry. Planned research includes: 1) using SEM-EDS to chemically characterize minerals in representative bedrock samples to better understand metamorphic and partial melting processes that lead to the evolution of the Earth’s crust; 2) using the SEM imaging to better understand the evolution of fossil arthropods; 3) improving our understanding of the fossilization processes of soft-tissues that rarely preserve in the paleontological record; 4) chemical analysis of thin sections from an ~500-year old archaeological semi-subterranean pit feature at a precontact Native American village that may have been used to dispose of human latrine waste; 5) using SEM to analyze micro-textures of sand grains to better reconstruct how certain landforms originated (e.g., wind-blown dunes vs river transported levees); 6) identifying diatom species, via SEM imagery, from lakes and streams to help determine contemporary water quality conditions as well as past environmental changes as part of broader paleolimnological studies; 7) using SEM-EDS to chemically characterize the surface of so-called nanocluster catalysts being studied as possible non-fossil fuel alternative energy sources; and, 8) using SEM imaging to study rapid diversification and taxonomic importance of microscopic features in North American tree crickets.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.