MRI: Acquisition of instrumentation to strengthen ecological research and education at the University of Southern Mississippi

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。美国国家科学基金会向南密西西比大学提供了一笔拨款，用于购买仪器，以扩大生态学研究的师资资源，并改善学生的教育和培训。该仪器包括一个CHNS养分分析仪，养分自动分析仪，自动化土壤二氧化碳通量系统，便携式光合作用/二氧化碳气体交换系统。此外，该奖项还提供资金用于购买设备基础设施（水生中生态系统和孵化器），以支持将这种仪器用于当前的研究和教育培训活动。南密西西比大学（University of Southern Mississippi）有一个核心教师小组，他们对碳和营养物质在有机生物学和生态学中的作用和影响感兴趣。这些教师的范围从生理学到社区和生态系统生态学家，他们专注于各种分类群，包括植物，藻类，原生动物，真菌，细菌，无脊椎动物和脊椎动物。该仪器将为教师建立新的和关键的分析能力，以测量陆地和水生生态系统中的碳和营养动态。因此，该仪器将促进和加强对量化生态系统内碳和营养过程及其影响感兴趣的教师和学生之间的协作互动。该仪器还将支持生态科学本科生和研究生的研究、课程作业和培训。学生的教育和培训将大大加强，因为本科生和研究生将利用现代仪器扩展他们的分析技能水平。这个机会将帮助学生将理论学习与实际操作技能相结合，从而提高他们在环境部门增长的苛刻就业市场中的竞争力。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).A grant has been awarded by NSF to the University of Southern Mississippi for the purchase of instrumentation to expand faculty resources for ecological research and to improve student education and training. This instrumentation includes a CHNS Nutrient Analyzer, Nutrient Autoanalyzer, Automated Soil CO2 Flux Systems, and Portable Photosynthesis / CO2 Gas Exchange Systems. In addition, this award provides funds to purchase equipment infrastructure (aquatic mesocosms and incubators) to support the use and integration of this instrumentation into current research and educational training activities. The University of Southern Mississippi has a core group of faculty interested in the role and impact of carbon and nutrients on organismal biology and ecology. These faculty range from physiological to community and ecosystem ecologists, who focus on a variety of taxonomic groups including plants, algae, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, invertebrates, and vertebrates. This instrumentation will establish new and critical analytical capabilities for faculty to measure carbon and nutrient dynamics within terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Thus, this instrumentation will foster and strengthen collaborative interactions among faculty and students interested in quantifying carbon and nutrient processes and impacts within ecosystems. This instrumentation also will support the research, coursework, and training of both undergraduate and graduate students in the ecological sciences. Student education and training will be significantly enhanced, as undergraduate and graduate students expand their analytical skill level with modern instrumentation. This opportunity will help students integrate theoretical learning with hands-on practical skills, thus increasing their competitiveness in a demanding job market likely to see growth in environmental sectors.