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

该主要研究仪器（MRI）奖为奥伯林学院提供资金，以获得激光消融电感耦合等离子体四极质谱仪（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-六个来自奥伯林学院的三个系，四个来自其他俄亥俄州学院和大学-进行尖端研究和培养本科理科学生。奥伯林学院地球科学系的教师和学生将绘制变质岩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钟，研究基本的地球过程，如造山运动。其他教师将应用类似的技术化石和现代贝壳，以更好地了解这些生物如何应对和记录气候变化。该仪器还将用于研究伊利湖的氯污染，并研究侵蚀和土地使用的变化。神经科学和化学与生物化学学院将研究脑组织和模式生物秀丽隐杆线虫（C。elegans），研究可以帮助我们了解减少环境毒素的有害影响的战略。LA-ICP-MS将提高10人提案团队的研究生产力，该团队主要是女性，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。奥伯林是一个领先的教育家的学生谁去获得博士学位的科学，这一工具将提高研究培训的本科生，谁将使用它在上层阶级以及在独立的项目。它还将提高奥伯林和其他参与机构的能力-丹尼森大学，伍斯特学院，和凯斯西储大学-招募和培养一批不同的学生在科学研究。购买一个ICP-MS与串联四极杆和气体反应池耦合到193纳米激光烧蚀系统与精确的阶段控制将使教师在奥伯林进行切割-同时招募和培训未来的科学家。最新一代的LA系统支持高分辨率（~3 μm）的空间分析，具有快速洗脱功能，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，串联四极杆和碰撞/反应池质谱法的大量最新发展允许通过去除质量干扰而大大增加灵敏度。科学教育在奥伯林是由个人和协作教师的积极和富有成效的研究计划，并获得了LA-ICP-MS系统将在该机构推进几个研究项目，将使奥伯林吸引和留住顶尖的科学教师，并为他们提供基础设施，保持在他们的学科的前沿，同时继续我们的高质量的研究培训的使命。重要的是，本科生将是LA-ICP-MS的主要用户，使他们能够开发对他们未来科学职业有用的实践经验和技能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

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.