MRI/RUI: Acquisition of Growth Chambers for Undergraduate and Faculty Research on Genetic and Environmental Interactions

在首席调查员Jennifer Sadowski博士和联合首席调查员Glena Temple博士的指导下，维特博大学获得了一笔赠款，用于加强生物系教师指导的本科生研究经验。该奖项旨在研究环境和基因在昆虫和植物的性状表达上的相互作用。这笔赠款将支持购买四个大的和两个小的生长室，每个室都有严格的环境控制，包括光和温度。目前，校园里没有适合进行这项研究的生长室；在偏远温室借来的空间一直不足以替代这项研究。新的生长室将使学生和他们的教师能够模拟多种精确控制的环境，以检查基因和环境的相互影响。研究是维特博大学本科生课程的重要组成部分。自然科学分部的所有高年级学生都需要与一名教师导师合作，开发一个可检验的假说，设计和实施适当的实验，并正式展示他们的结果。这些生长室将用于研究植物和昆虫之间的遗传和环境相互作用。生物系超过一半的学生与教职员工一起工作，每年都会在他们的顶峰研究项目中使用所要求的仪器。项目包括研究环境和基因对昆虫社会和交配行为的相互作用，以及分析植物对环境压力的生化和遗传适应。参与其中的教职员工将与大学内外的其他人合作，开展具有较高学术价值的研究，这将导致同行评议的出版物，并在与本科生的科学会议上发表演讲。新增长室的获得和使用将极大地提升维特博大学学生的教育体验，并支持高质量的研究。这一设施的增强预计将鼓励更多的学生攻读理科高级学位，特别是女性和第一代大学生，他们在维特博的学生中占很大比例。

A grant has been awarded to Viterbo University under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Sadowski, Principal Investigator, and Dr. Glena Temple, co-Principal Investigator, for a project to strengthen faculty-directed undergraduate research experiences in the Biology Department. This grant award investigates the interacting role of the environment and genes on the expression of traits in insects and plants. The grant award will support the purchase of four large and two small growth chambers, each with stringent environmental controls, including light and temperature. Presently there are no growth chambers on campus suitable to conduct this research; borrowed space at a remote greenhouse has been an inadequate substitute. The new growth chambers will enable students and their faculty mentors to simulate multiple, precisely controlled environments to examine the interacting effects of genes and the environment.Research is an essential component of the undergraduate curriculum at Viterbo University. All seniors in the Natural Science Division are required to work with a faculty mentor to develop a testable hypothesis, design and implement the appropriate experiments, and formally present their results. The growth chambers will be used to investigate genetic and environmental interactions in both plants and insects. Over half of the students in the Biology department, working with faculty members, will use the requested instrumentation for their capstone research projects each year. Projects include studying the interacting effects of the environment and genes on the social and mating behaviors in insects, and analyzing the biochemical and genetic adaptations that plants make in response to environmental stress. The faculty members involved will collaborate with others both within and outside the university to conduct research of high intellectual merit, which will lead to peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific meetings with undergraduates. The acquisition and use of the new growth chambers will greatly enhance the educational experience of students at Viterbo University and support high quality research. This facilities enhancement is expected to encourage more students to pursue advanced degrees in the sciences, particularly women and first generation college students who form a large percentage of Viterbo's student body.