MRI: Acquisition of a multi-modal laser scanning confocal microscope to integrate research and teaching across spatial, evolutionary and ecological scales at WWU

西华盛顿大学（WWU）获得一项奖励，购买一台用于生物标本高分辨率定量分析的显微镜。此次收购将促进跨学科课程开发，本科生暑期研究项目，以及WWU和Skagit山谷K-12学生之间的STEM管道建设。课程开发将侧重于基于课程的本科生研究体验（CUREs），这将使每年约64名本科生通过生物学，化学，行为神经科学部门和香农角海洋科学中心（SPMC）对生物标本进行定量荧光显微镜研究。通过CUREs生成的数据集将开发成讲座课程的教学工具，这将使每年增加约400名学生接触到定量显微镜数据。夏季研究项目将侧重于每年培训约16名学生的多样化队列，使用时间分辨荧光显微镜对从单个蛋白质到多细胞生物的标本进行研究。此次收购将使传统上缺乏服务的K-12学生通过Compass2Campus项目接触到尖端的定量显微镜。总的来说，该仪器将成为整个斯卡吉特山谷定量STEM培训的中心资源。此次收购的科学前提是重点推进三个学术部门（生物、化学和行为神经科学）和一个国家海洋科学中心（SPMC）的11个研究项目。这些研究项目涉及多种生物学问题，包括：细胞器组装、植物发育、细胞信号传导、海洋幼虫发育、神经突触形成、内共生、蛋白质生物物理学、蛋白质运输、DNA损伤、基因表达、神经发育和衰老。这些研究重点跨越了从单分子到多细胞生物的尺度。这些研究重点包括进化上遥远的生物，包括原生生物、真菌、植物、昆虫和动物。这次收购所促进的科学项目的成果将在同行评议的出版物和科学会议上传播。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to Western Washington University (WWU) to purchase a microscope for high resolution quantitative analysis of biological specimens. The acquisition will facilitate interdisciplinary curriculum development, summer research programs for undergraduates, and STEM pipeline building between WWU and K-12 students in the Skagit Valley. Curricular developments will be focused on Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) that will enable ~64 undergraduate students annually to conduct quantitative fluorescence microscopy research on biological specimens through the Biology, Chemistry, Behavioral Neuroscience departments and the Shannon Point Marine Science Center (SPMC). Datasets generated through CUREs will be developed into teaching tools for lecture courses, which will expose an additional ~400 students annually to quantitative microscopy data. Summer research programs will focus on training a diverse cohort of ~16 students annually to employ time-resolved fluorescence microscopy on specimens ranging in scale from individual proteins to multi-cellular organisms. The acquisition will expose traditionally underserved K-12 students to cutting edge quantitative microscopy through the Compass2Campus program. Collectively, this instrument will become a central resource for quantitative STEM training for the entire Skagit Valley.The scientific premise for this acquisition is focused on advancing 11 research programs from three academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, and Behavioral Neuroscience) and one national marine science center (SPMC). These research programs work on diverse biological problems that include: organelle assembly, plant development, cell signaling, marine larval development, neural synapse formation, endosymbiosis, protein biophysics, protein trafficking, DNA damage, gene expression, neural development, and aging. These research emphases span size scales that range from single molecules to multi-cellular organisms. These research emphases incorporate evolutionarily distant organisms that include protists, fungus, plants, insects and animals. The results of the scientific projects facilitated by this acquisition will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and at scientific meetings.This 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.