Acquisition of a Tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer by the Earth Science Department at Vassar College, a PUI

PUI 瓦萨学院地球科学系购买了台式扫描电子显微镜和能量色散光谱仪

• 批准号: 2147718
• 负责人: Laura Haynes
• 金额: $ 16.94万
• 依托单位: Vassar College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-15 至 2025-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2147718&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; Tabletop; Scanning; Electron; Microscope

Acquisition of a Tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with an Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (EDS) for research, teaching, and public outreach has been granted to the Vassar College Earth Science Department. Scanning Electron Microscopes are powerful instruments used for imaging natural and manufactured materials beyond the capabilities of traditional light microscopes. Our department will use the SEM-EDS to support new research in understanding past climate and ocean change, in the evolution of mountain belts, and past volcanic eruptions, providing research opportunities for undergraduates at every stage of their college experience. PI Haynes will investigate how microscopic fossils called foraminifera record ocean acidification events in the geologic past. These shells of these creatures are ubiquitous in the geologic record and help to ground-truth the impacts of large warming events on the Earth system and its ecosystems. This SEM will form a significant portion of PI Haynes’ research toolkit, supporting her establishment as an early-career scientist and providing opportunities for undergraduate research in her laboratory. The SEM-EDS will also be used at all levels of our curriculum; for example, students will have the instrument available to them as a tool to be used for final projects of their own design, providing primary research experience. Finally, new programming will be designed in our department’s Geological Museum that will help co-create new exhibits with SEM imagery collected with our local community members. We aim to increase the impact of our local museum to generate interest and connection with Earth Science topics and the Vassar community at large as well as marginalized members of the Poughkeepsie community. This award will support two summer undergraduate research assistants to design and implement these efforts in local science communication. We believe that this programming will significantly increase the impact of our local museum and create a regional hub for natural history education. A newly acquired Phenom-XL Tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with an Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (EDS) will be used for research, teaching, and public outreach in the Vassar College Earth Science Department. In PI Haynes’ lab, the SEM will be used to assess the mineral structure, preservation, and morphology of fossils and microfossils, primarily foraminifera. Using sediments collected from the International Ocean Discovery Program’s recent Expedition 378, PI Haynes will investigate the record of climate and ocean change recorded by foraminifera microfossils during rapid warming events of the Eocene epoch (45-57 Ma). The SEM will be utilized to 1) address primary questions in the evolution of foraminifera morphology, taxonomy, and physiology, and 2) diagnose whether and to what degree shell diagenesis and contamination biases geochemical records of past ocean acidification. In Co-PI Walker’s lab, the SEM-EDS system will be used to investigate clay mineral formation and geochemistry. Co-PI Menking’s research aims reconstruct the terrestrial paleoclimate history as recorded by lake sediments, notably in sediments of the Pleistocene Lake Estancia and lakes from central New York, using this instrument to investigate changes in sediment composition as well as determine diatom taxonomy, two important indicators of past environmental change. In addition, the investigators will use the instrument to characterize microplastics and in reconstructing volcanic eruption histories via zoning and microbubbles in minerals. This award received cofounding from the Marine Geology and Geophysics (MGG) program in the Ocean Science division.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.

瓦萨学院地球科学系已获得用于研究、教学和公共推广的台式扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 和能量色散 X 射线光谱仪 (EDS) 扫描电子显微镜是用于自然成像的强大仪器。我们的部门将使用 SEM-EDS 来支持新的研究，以了解过去的气候和海洋变化、山带的演化以及过去的火山。 PI Haynes 将研究有孔虫的微小化石如何记录过去地质记录中的海洋酸化事件，并为本科生提供研究机会。该 SEM 将构成 PI Haynes 研究工具包的重要组成部分，支持她成为一名早期职业科学家，并为本科生提供机会。 SEM-EDS 也将用于我们课程的各个级别；例如，学生将可以使用该仪器作为他们自己设计的最终项目的工具，从而提供初步的研究经验。最后，我们部门的地质博物馆将设计新的项目，这将有助于利用与当地社区成员收集的 SEM 图像共同创建新的展品。我们的目标是提高当地博物馆的影响力，以激发人们对地球科学主题的兴趣并建立联系。整个瓦萨社区以及边缘化社区该奖项将支持两名暑期本科生研究助理在当地科学传播中设计和实施这些工作，我们相信该计划将显着提高我们当地博物馆的影响力，并创建一个区域自然历史教育中心。新购买的带有能量色散 X 射线光谱仪 (EDS) 的 Phenom-XL 台式扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 将用于 PI Haynes 瓦萨学院地球科学系的研究、教学和公共宣传。在实验室中，扫描电镜将用于评估化石和微化石（主要是有孔虫）的矿物结构、保存和形态，PI Haynes 将利用从国际海洋发现计划最近的 378 次探险中收集的沉积物来调查记录的气候和海洋变化记录。 SEM 将用于 1) 解决演化中的主要问题。有孔虫形态学、分类学和生理学的研究；2) 诊断贝壳成岩作用和污染是否以及在多大程度上影响过去海洋酸化的地球化学记录。在 Co-PI Walker 的实验室中，SEM-EDS 系统将用于研究粘土矿物的形成。共同研究员 Menking 的研究旨在重建湖泊沉积物（特别是更新世埃斯坦西亚湖沉积物）记录的陆地古气候历史。和纽约中部的湖泊，使用该仪器来调查沉积物成分的变化并确定硅藻分类，这是过去环境变化的两个重要指标。此外，研究人员将使用该仪器来表征微塑料并通过重建火山喷发历史。该奖项由海洋科学部门的海洋地质和地球物理学 (MGG) 项目共同创立。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得支持。通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。