Acquisition of a Transmission Electron Microscope for Undergraduate Research and Teaching

美国国家科学基金会核磁共振基金资助在伦道夫-梅肯学院（R-MC）购置一台透射电子显微镜。R-MC是一所小型的文理学院，有着悠久的本科生研究传统。教职员工保持活跃的研究项目，并以多种方式指导本科生研究，包括学分独立研究，顶点研究项目，以及在夏季通过授予夏皮罗本科研究奖学金（SURF）计划。获得TEM将极大地改善R-MC的研究和教学环境，使本科生研究人员能够使用最先进的设备，从而促进各种背景的学生进入科学领域。由TEM支持的研究项目涵盖了广泛的生命科学领域，包括：哺乳动物精子顶体基质蛋白的区隔化，以了解它们在受精中的作用；评估父母教养反应对大鼠神经可塑性的影响真菌新种运动细胞的超微结构分析褐虫及其细菌共生体宿主-共生体相互作用的研究以及了解在小鼠卡路里限制期间T细胞自噬的调节。与其他机构的研究人员的合作研究也将成为可能。此外，TEM将用于一些本科课程，包括新的高级显微镜课程，学生将学习样品制备，数字图像采集和电子显微图分析。现有的和新开发的拓展项目将吸引当地公立学校的学生参与项目和示范，以激发他们对科学的兴趣。

This NSF MRI grant funds the acquisition of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) at Randolph-Macon College (R-MC). R-MC is a small liberal arts and sciences institution with a long tradition of undergraduate student research. Faculty members maintain active research programs and mentor undergraduate research students in several ways, including credit-bearing independent studies, capstone research projects, and through the endowed Shapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program during the summer. Acquisition of a TEM will greatly enhance the research and teaching environment at R-MC by enabling undergraduate researchers to use state of the art equipment that will promote recruitment of students from all backgrounds into the sciences. Research projects to be supported by the TEM span a broad range of the life sciences and include: compartmentalization of mammalian sperm acrosomal matrix proteins to understand their role in fertilization; evaluating how parenting responses affect neuroplasticity in rats; ultrastructural analysis of motile cells in new fungal species; characterization of host-symbiont interactions in the bryozoan Bugula neritina and its bacterial symbionts; and understanding the regulation of autophagy in T cells during calorie restriction in mice. Collaborative research with investigators at other institutions will also be enabled. In addition, the TEM will be used in several undergraduate courses, including a new Advanced Microscopy course in which students will learn specimen preparation, digital image acquisition, and analysis of electron micrographs. Existing and newly developed outreach programs will engage students from local public schools in projects and demonstrations to stimulate their interest in science.