Controlled Environment Facilities for the Marine Biological Laboratory

该项目将为海洋生物实验室（MBL -https://www.mbl.edu）新的受控环境设施提供资金。这将提供新的能力，以扩大对植物和土壤过程以及微生物与植物和动物相互作用的研究。 全球变化是一个多因素的现象，使生物和生态系统如何应对未来变化的研究更具挑战性。需要能够同时控制多种相关环境驱动因素的设施来解决相关的全球变化问题。 这些设施将用于支持广泛主题的研究和教育，其中包括气候变化和人类土地使用对陆地和水生生态系统的影响，控制土壤和沉积物中的温室气体排放，光合作用演变研究，动植物微生物组研究，以及对微生物群落和生活在极端环境中的微生物的代谢能力的调查。 该设施将供教职员工、访问科学家和学生使用。 该项目将安装两个新的Conviron生长室，配备最先进的温度，CO2，湿度和照明系统，以取代旧系统。这两个新的实验室还将配备一个新的控制系统，可以对实验室和实验进行远程监控。通过将三台压缩机移至外部，容纳新生长室的房间将得到极大改善，从而降低房间内的噪音。对于微生物活动的环境控制研究，该项目还将包括安装一个Coy厌氧室，以便能够制备厌氧微生物培养物和需要严格厌氧条件的实验。 在座的 为MBL全年厌氧微生物的多样化工作提供新的能力。通过将三台压缩机（用于两个新室的压缩机和一台用于现有室的压缩机）移到室外，将大大改善容纳新生长室的房间，从而大大降低房间内的噪音。 MBL的生长箱已大量用于各级教育，从高中到博士。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This project will provide funds for new controlled environment facilities at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL - https://www.mbl.edu). This will provide new capabilities to expand research on plant and soil processes, and microbial interactions with plants and animals. Global change is a multi-factor phenomenon making the study of how organisms and ecosystems will respond to future changes all the more challenging. Facilities which can simultaneously control multiple relevant environmental drivers are needed to address relevant global change questions. These facilities will be used to support research and education on a broad array of topics, which include the effects of climate change and human land use on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, controls on greenhouse gas release from soils and sediments, studies on the evolution of photosynthesis, studies on the microbiome of plants and animals, and investigations into the metabolic capabilities of microbial communities and microbes living in extreme environments. The facility will be used by faculty, visiting scientists and students. The project will install two new Conviron growth chambers equipped with state of the art temperature, CO2, humidity, and lighting systems to replace older systems. The two new chambers will also be equipped with a new control system allowing for remote monitoring of the chambers and experiments. The room housing the new growth chambers will be greatly improved by moving three compressors outside, reducing the noise in the room. For studies of environmental controls over microbial activities the project will also include the installation of a Coy anaerobic chamber enabling preparation of anaerobic microbial cultures and experiments requiring strict anaerobic conditions. This chamber will enable new capacity for diverse work with anaerobic microbes year-round at the MBL. The room housing the new growth chambers will be greatly improved by moving three compressors (those for the two new chambers, and one for an existing chamber) outside, greatly reducing the noise in the room. MBL’s growth chambers have been heavily used for education at all levels, from high school to Ph.D. level work and students will continue to have access to the new facilities.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.