Equipment: MRI: Acquisition of a MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometer for Supporting Interdisciplinary Microbiological Research and Education at Eastern Kentucky University

授予东肯塔基州大学在包括但不限于微生物学、生态学和环境生物学等领域进行实践教育推广和研究培训。凭借MALDI-TOF技术的自动质谱微生物鉴定系统，研究项目和最先进的仪器将激励本科生，硕士生和高中生参与各种项目，让这些学生看到并相信自己是STEM研究人员。除了加强研究基础设施在东肯塔基州大学和直接阿巴拉契亚地区内，该项目将通过提供高影响力的研究和推广机会，在干谁参加东肯塔基州大学和大学课程的许多代表性不足的人群增加干劳动力的多样性。该项目的参与者将包括许多低收入家庭和第一代学生，以及未来的教师，他们在学生中占很大比例，他们的集体参与将提高肯塔基州的科学素养。该项目将加速东肯塔基州大学关于微生物的研究，并将带来更多的研究机会，发现和跨学科合作。由于从社会和区域感兴趣的环境中获得结果的简单性，该项目将能够在研究不足的环境中快速鉴定微生物，包括耐药微生物。该研究将为更广泛的科学界提供信息，以了解生态系统如何中和，维持或增强生物体和基因中的抗菌素耐药性。最终，该研究将为旨在了解非临床环境（如河流，湖泊，森林，湿地和牲畜区）如何有助于特定微生物和微生物群落的抗菌素耐药性的努力提供信息。研究结果可以为旨在改善人类，植物和生态系统健康的流域管理实践提供信息。该奖项反映了NSF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 Eastern Kentucky University to do hands-on educational outreach and research training in areas including, but not limited to, microbiology, ecology, and environmental biology. With this award of an automated mass spectrometry microbial identification system with MALDI-TOF technology, the research projects and state-of-the-art instrumentation will inspire undergraduate, masters-level, and high school students to participate in a variety of projects allowing these students to see and believe in themselves as STEM researchers. Beyond strengthening the research infrastructure at Eastern Kentucky University and within the immediate Appalachian region, the project will increase the diversity of the STEM workforce by providing high-impact research and outreach opportunities to many underrepresented populations in STEM who attend Eastern Kentucky University and university programs. Project participants will include many low-income and first-generation students, as well as future teachers, who represent a significant proportion of the student body and their collective participation will raise the scientific literacy in Kentucky.The project will accelerate research at Eastern Kentucky University regarding microorganisms, and will lead to more research opportunities, discoveries, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Due to the simplicity of obtaining results from environments of societal and regional interest, the project will enable the rapid identification of microorganisms, including drug-resistant microorganisms, in understudied environments. The research will inform the broader scientific community in understanding how ecosystems neutralize, maintain, or enhance antimicrobial resistance in organisms and genes. Ultimately, the research will inform efforts aiming to understand how non-clinical environments, like streams, lakes, forests, wetlands, and livestock areas contribute to antimicrobial resistance in specific microorganisms and microbial communities. Findings could inform watershed management practices aimed at improving human, plant, and ecosystem health.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.