Equipment: MRI Track 1: Acquisition of a LA-ICP-MS for Research and Research Training

该主要研究仪器（MRI）奖为奥柏林学院提供资金，以获得激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体四极杆质谱仪（LA-ICP-MS），该仪器用于分析广泛的固体（矿物和组织）和液体样品，以加深对其组成和意义的理解。这个高度通用的系统将使10名教师——6名来自奥伯林学院的3个系，4名来自俄亥俄州其他学院和大学——能够进行前沿研究并培养本科理科学生。奥柏林学院地球科学学院的教职员工和学生将绘制变质岩中矿物中微量金属的分布图，以重建它们的压力-温度历史，并通过检查矿物锆石中的同位素时钟，研究基本的地球过程，如造山。其他教员将把类似的技术应用于化石和现代贝壳，以更好地了解这些生物如何对气候变化做出反应并记录下来。该仪器还将用于研究伊利湖的氯污染，以及研究侵蚀和土地利用的变化。神经科学、化学和生物化学学院将研究脑组织中重金属的吸收和模式生物秀丽隐杆线虫（秀丽隐杆线虫），这些研究有助于我们了解减少环境毒素有害影响的策略。LA-ICP-MS将提高10人提议团队的研究效率，该团队主要由女性组成，包括4名早期职业科学家和3名在科学领域代表性不足的少数群体成员。欧柏林大学是培养攻读科学博士学位的学生的一流学府，该仪器将提高本科生的研究训练，他们将在高级课程和独立项目中使用它。它还将提高奥伯林大学和其他参与机构——丹尼森大学、伍斯特学院和凯斯西储大学——招募和培训从事科学研究的不同学生群体的能力。此次收购的ICP-MS具有串联四极杆和气体反应池，以及具有精确阶段控制的193nm激光烧蚀系统，将使奥柏林大学的教师能够在招聘和培训未来科学家的同时进行尖端研究。最新一代LA系统支持高分辨率（~3 μm）空间分析，具有快速冲洗，当与高灵敏度四极ICP-MS仔细同步时，可以对微量元素进行详细成像，开辟了新的研究途径。同样，最近在串联四极杆质谱和碰撞/反应细胞质谱方面的重大发展，通过消除质量干扰，大大提高了灵敏度。奥伯林的科学教育通过个人和合作教师的积极和富有成效的研究项目得到加强，进入LA-ICP-MS系统将推进该机构的几个研究项目，将使奥伯林能够吸引和留住顶尖的科学教师，并为他们提供基础设施，使他们保持在学科的前沿，同时继续我们的高质量研究培训使命。重要的是，本科生将成为LA-ICP-MS的主要用户，使他们能够发展对未来科学事业有用的实践经验和技能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award provides funding to Oberlin College to acquire a laser ablation inductively-coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS), an instrument used to analyze a broad range of solid (mineral and tissue) and liquid samples to deepen understanding of their composition and significance. This highly versatile system will enable ten faculty – six from three departments at Oberlin College and four from other Ohio colleges and universities – to perform cutting-edge research and to train undergraduate science students. Oberlin College Geosciences faculty and students will map the distribution of trace metals in minerals in metamorphic rocks to reconstruct their pressure-temperature histories, and, by examining isotope clocks in the mineral zircon, study fundamental Earth processes such as mountain building. Other faculty will apply similar techniques to fossils and modern shells to better understand how these organisms respond to and record the changing climate. The instrument will also be used to study chlorine pollution in Lake Erie and to research erosion and changing land use. Faculty in Neuroscience and Chemistry and Biochemistry will study the uptake of heavy metals in brain tissue and the model organism Caenorhabditis Elegans (C. elegans), research that can contribute to our understanding of strategies for reducing the harmful impacts of environmental toxins. The LA-ICP-MS will enhance the research productivity of the ten-member proposing team, which is majority female and includes four early-career scientists and three members of minoritized groups underrepresented in the sciences. Oberlin is a leading educator of students who go on to earn PhDs in the sciences, and this instrument will improve the research training of undergraduates, who will use it in upper-level classes as well as in independent projects. It will also improve the ability of Oberlin and the other participating institutions – Denison University, The College of Wooster, and Case Western Reserve University – to recruit and train a diverse group of students in scientific research.The acquisition of an ICP-MS with tandem quadrupoles and gas reaction cell coupled to a 193 nm laser ablation system with precise stage control will enable faculty at Oberlin to perform cutting-edge research while recruiting and training future scientists. The newest generation of LA systems supports high-resolution (~3 μm) spatial analyses with a fast wash-out, which, when carefully synchronized with a high-sensitivity quadrupole ICP-MS, allows for detailed imaging of trace elements, opening up new avenues of research. Likewise, substantial recent developments in tandem quadrupole and collision/reaction cell mass spectrometry allow greatly increased sensitivity through the removal of mass interferences. Science education at Oberlin is enhanced by the active and productive research programs of individual and collaborative faculty, and access to the LA-ICP-MS system will advance several research programs at the institution, will enable Oberlin to attract and retain a top science faculty and provide infrastructure for them to remain at the forefront of their disciplines while continuing our mission of high-quality research training. Importantly, undergraduate students will be primary users of the LA-ICP-MS, enabling them to develop hands-on experience and skills useful for their future careers in scienceThis 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.