RAPID: PetCAT-Scan: A high definition scanning tool for geoscientists in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

该RAPID奖项为高清晰度薄片扫描仪提供支持，以在堪萨斯州立大学建立PetCAT扫描设施。 该设施将帮助中西部大学在COVID-19大流行期间快速开发基于光学显微镜的在线教学资源。 学生将能够在线观察和分析岩相薄片，将他们的个人平板电脑/智能手机/电脑转换为“虚拟显微镜”。 该设施还将用于堪萨斯州立大学地球科学家正在进行的和未来的研究，并将改善数据管理和开放获取虚拟薄切片库的开发。在COVID-19大流行期间，从面对面教学转向在线教学已成为全球大多数教师的要求。在线教学最具挑战性的课程之一是岩石学，因为它依赖于显微镜和薄片。 随着许多大学将继续在线教学的可能性，如何过渡到其他涉及光学显微镜工作的课程（例如，矿物学、沉积学-地层学、构造地质学），以及如何改进目前在火成岩、变质和沉积岩石学方面提供指导的努力，将变得至关重要。 PetCAT扫描设施将协助这些努力，并增加开放获取资源。 此外，由于对研究实验室的访问有限，该设施将提供对研究样品的虚拟岩相学图像的关键访问。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

This RAPID award provides support for a high definition thin section scanner to establish the PetCAT-Scan facility at Kansas State University. This facility will help Midwestern universities rapidly develop their optical microscopy-based instructional resources online during this period associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Students will be able to observe and analyze petrographic thin sections online, transforming their personal tablet/smartphone/computer in a ‘Virtual Microscope’. This facility will also be used for ongoing, and future, research by Kansas State University geoscientists and will improve data management and the development of an open access virtual thin section library.Moving from in-person to on-line teaching has become a requirement for most faculty worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most challenging classes to teach online is Petrology, because it relies on access to microscopes and thin sections. With the possibility that many universities will continue online instruction, how to transition other courses that involve optical microscope work (e.g., mineralogy, sedimentology-stratigraphy, structural geology), and how to improve on current efforts to provide instruction in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary petrology, will become essential. The PetCAT-Scan facility will assist with these efforts and increase open access resources. Furthermore, with limited access to research labs, the facility will provide critical access to virtual petrographic imagery of research samples.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.