Acquisition of a Preparative Ultracentrifuge and Tabletop Superspeed Centrifuge for Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Research Training in Biology

圣托马斯大学（University of St. Thomas）生物系获得了一笔拨款，用于圣托马斯大学（University of St. Thomas）的罗马尼博士（Dr. Romagni）获得了一台制备型超速离心机和配套的台式超速离心机。它包括几个必要的转子的费用，三年的服务，以及使用设备的人员所需的培训。该仪器是部门研究策略的重要组成部分，填补了当前本科生物学研究计划的明显空白。圣托马斯大学（University of St. Thomas）是一所以女性学生为主的少数民族本科院校，该设备将用于独立研究项目和课堂教学。这些调查是教师/学生指导方法的一部分，这种方法源于生物学课堂上的工作，和/或与各个教师的重点相关的研究。该设备还将整合到诸如普通生物学之类的入门生物学课程中，并更密集地整合到诸如分子生态学、细胞生物学、植物生理学、植物生理生态学和生物化学等高年级本科课程中。目前的教师研究将利用获得的仪器包括分子生态学和种群动态的海洋无脊椎动物被用作河口水质的指标。他们还将调查几种植物病害媒介昆虫的种群遗传学，特别是白蝇。另一个研究领域包括对植物白蛉载体病毒的研究。最后，该设备将用于植物次生代谢物的生态生理/生化研究，阐明其作用方式及其作为环境友好型农药的潜力。有了这些资金，许多目前需要分包给非校园人员进行实验或需要教师完成校外工作的项目将在圣托马斯大学完成。这对于需要综合实验室经验作为科学教育一部分的学生来说显然是有利的。资助不仅允许学生自己完成整个实验/方案，还将使他们获得宝贵的技术技能，为未来的生物科学工作和完成项目发表在同行评审的期刊上。最后，它将允许教师进行研究活动，目前是不可能的，因为在他们的机构缺乏离心机能力。

Acquisition of a Preparative Ultracentrifuge and Tabletop Superspeed Centrifuge for Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Research and Training in BiologyUniversity of St. Thomas, Dept. of Biology, Houston, TX 77006 A grant has been awarded to Dr. Romagni at the University of St. Thomas to acquire a preparative ultracentrifuge and supporting desktop superspeed centrifuge. It includes the cost of several necessary rotors, service for three years, and required training for personnel using the equipment. This instrumentation is an important component of departmental research strategy and fills an obvious void in the current undergraduate biology research program. The equipment will by used by undergraduate students at the University of St. Thomas, an ethnic minority serving undergraduate institution with a majority of women students, in independent research projects and in the classroom. These investigations are part of a faculty/student mentoring approach that has grown out of work originating in biology classes, and/or to research that is tied to the foci of various faculty. The equipment will also be integrated into such introductory biology classes as General Biology and, more intensively, in upper division undergraduate classes, such as Molecular Ecology, Cell Biology, Plant Physiology, Plant Physiological Ecology, and Biochemistry. Current faculty research that will utilize the acquired instruments include the molecular ecology and population dynamics of marine invertebrates used as indicators of estuarine water quality. They will also investigate the population genetics of several insect vectors of plant disease, in particular, whiteflies. Another area of research includes studies of whitefly-vectored viruses of plants. Finally, the equipment will be used for the ecophysiological/biochemical studies of plant secondary metabolites, the elucidation of their modes of action and their potential as environmentally friendly pesticides. With these funds, many of the current projects that require subcontracting of non-campus personnel to run experiments or that require faculty to complete some work off-campus, will be completed at the University of St. Thomas. This is a clearly advantageous for students who require a comprehensive laboratory experience as part of their science education. Not only will funding allow students to complete entire experiments/protocols themselves, it would also enable them to gain valuable technical skills for future work in the biological sciences and complete projects for publication in peer reviewed journals. Finally it will permit faculty to undertake research activities currently not possible because of the lack of centrifuge capabilities at their institution.