WHOI Sea Floor Samples Laboratory: Curation and distribution of samples from the sea floor in the service of marine science and education

该项目支持伍兹霍尔海洋研究所海底样品实验室的运作。这个储存库有来自世界海洋的26,000多个样本。收集的样本被分发给全球各地的研究人员和教育工作者。使用收集样本的研究解决了与气候变化、海洋环流、海洋资源和地质灾害有关的重要问题。储存库工作人员从事许多外联和教育活动。本科生实习生，包括那些来自地球科学中代表性不足的群体的实习生，协助储存库活动。以前在伍兹霍尔海洋研究所海底样本实验室收集的样本为各种研究项目提供了机会，包括初步研究、对正在进行的研究起补充作用的存档材料的调查，以及完全依赖于已经收集的材料的独立项目。为来自世界各地的学者、教育工作者和学生提供样品请求，最终用户无需支付任何费用。国家科学基金会的持续支持使海底样本实验室能够向地球和环境科学家国际社会提供一致和高质量的设施和服务。该储存库的目的是通过提供获取几十年来收集的海底宝贵样本的途径，促进海洋科学和教育。为此，实验室人员的工作是：1)扩大和管理采集，2)向客户分发地质子样品，3)通过外展计划以及网络和数据服务促进对多样化采集的获取，4)作为实地采样技术的社区资源，5)与科学家和学生合作并在最佳实践中进行培训。从收集的样本中获得的数据是社区提出新的和创新的问题以及开发和应用新技术的持久资源。这些活动带来了新的科学见解。提供给研究人员的样本被用来研究各种各样的主题，包括构造学、流变学、矿物学、气候变化、地质灾害和环境污染。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 project supports the operation of the Seafloor Sample Laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This repository has more than 26,000 samples from the world’s oceans. Samples from the collection are distributed to researchers and educators across the globe. Research using collection samples have addressed important problems related to climate change, ocean circulation, ocean resources, and geohazards. Repository personnel engage in numerous outreach and education activities. Undergraduate interns, including those from underrepresented groups in the geosciences, assist in repository activities.Previously acquired samples curated at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Seafloor Samples Laboratory provide opportunities for a wide variety of research projects including preliminary studies, investigations where archived material plays a supplemental role to ongoing research, and stand-alone ventures that depend wholly on those materials already collected. Sample requests are fulfilled for scholars, educators, and students from around the world at no cost to the end user. Continuing support from the National Science Foundation enables the Seafloor Samples Laboratory to provide consistent and quality facilities and services to an international community of Earth and environmental scientists. The purpose of the repository facilitates marine science and education by providing access to valuable samples from the seafloor collected over many decades. To do this lab personnel work to 1) expand and curate the collections, 2) distribute geological subsamples to clients, 3) promote access to the diverse collections via outreach programs and web and data services, 4) serve as a community resource for field sampling techniques, and 5) collaborate with and train scientists and students in best practices. Data obtained from samples in the collection are an enduring resource for the community to ask new and innovative questions and for the development and application of new techniques. These activities lead to novel scientific insights. Samples provided to researchers are being used to examine a vast array of topics including tectonics, rheology, minerology, climate change, geohazards, and environmental pollution.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.