MRI: Acquisition of a laser scanning confocal microscope for use in research and teaching in the Biology, Chemistry and Physics Departments at Grinnell College

格林内尔学院获得了购买点扫描共聚焦显微镜系统的奖励。格林内尔学院通过将主动学习技术融入课堂，改善妇女和代表性不足群体获得科学的机会，并将研究经验纳入整个课程，积极参与和领导改进科学教育学的努力。该仪器将通过为教师和他们的学生提供新的研究可能性来支持这些努力，无论是在研究实验室还是在现有的实验室课程中。除此之外，研究人员将创建并教授一门致力于显微技术的新课程。更具体地说，他们将把拟议的文书纳入一个现有项目，该项目为附近一所中等安全级别监狱的囚犯提供教育机会。此外，联合绩效指标还建议在格林内尔为区域文科学院举办一个讲习班，其目的是交流最佳做法，共同设计使用荧光显微镜和/或共焦显微镜的实验，使本科生在各种环境中都能接触到这些实验。该奖项将支持生物学、生物化学、化学和物理学方面的一系列研究和教学/培训活动，包括：(1)研究神经肌肉接头(NMJ)的突触可塑性；(2)检测光的衍射极限以下的微管形成；(3)表征发育中脊椎动物心脏的神经血管模式和指导；(4)破译细胞迁移中钙水平的遗传控制；(5)表征各种蛋白质在调节有丝分裂纺锤体功能方面的时空活性；以及(6)检测烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体的变构构象变化。这一奖项将使格林内尔学院的教职员工和学生能够解决超出他们目前能力范围的问题。结果将在世界各地的同行评议期刊和科学会议上的出版物中传播。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to Grinnell College to purchase a point-scanning confocal microscope system. Grinnell College has been an active participant and leader in efforts to improve science pedagogy by incorporating active learning techniques into the classroom, improving access to science for women and underrepresented groups, and integrating research experiences throughout the curriculum. This instrument will support these efforts by providing new research possibilities for faculty and their students, both in the research lab and in existing laboratory courses. Beyond this, the investigators will create and teach a new course dedicated to microscopy techniques. More specifically, they will incorporate the proposed instrument into an existing program that provides educational opportunities for inmates at a nearby medium security prison. Further, the co-PIs propose the development of a workshop for regional liberal arts colleges, to be hosted at Grinnell, the aim of which is to exchange best practices and work together to design experiments using fluorescence microscopy and/or confocal microscopy that are accessible to undergraduate students in a variety of settings. This award will support a range of research and teaching/training activities in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, and physics including: (1) studying synaptic plasticity at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ); (2) detecting microtubule formation below the diffraction limit of light; (3) characterizing neurovascular patterning and guidance in the developing vertebrate heart; (4) deciphering the genetic control of Ca2+ levels in cell migration; (5) characterizing the spatiotemporal activity of various proteins in regulating mitotic spindle function; and (6) detecting allosteric conformational changes in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. This award will enable Grinnell College faculty and students to address questions that are beyond their current capability. The results will be disseminated in publications in peer-reviewed journals and in presentations at scientific conferences throughout the world.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.