? CORE B: Microscopy Imaging Center for Research through Observation (MICRO) The Microscopy Imaging Center for Research through Observation (MICRO) Core of the Integrative Center for Environmental Microbiomes and Human Health (ICEMHH) will provide comprehensive imaging instrumentation and technical expertise at the University of Hawai?i at M?noa (UHM) to support research that characterizes microorganisms and their relationship to each other, to host tissues or to their environment. The MICRO will incorporate and enhance the existing Biological Electron Microscope Facility that houses the only transmission electron microscope in the state, and the only scanning electron microscope at UHM supporting biological and biomedical research. The MICRO Core will provide the following: instrumentation, training and services for scanning and transmission electron microscopy, epifluorescent and confocal microscopy and laser microdissection and optical tweezers. A major goal of the COBRE support will be to modernize equipment and introduce users to new techniques, particularly rapidly changing fluorescent-imaging technologies, to assist in studies of microorganisms and their microbiomes. Relocation of the MICRO Core to a new Life Sciences Building, scheduled for completion in 2019, will provide a larger, custom-designed space for enhancing its research and training activities. The MICRO Core will be available to researchers across the UHM campus, to other local research and educational institutions, and to visiting scientists. The MICRO Core will favorably impact COBRE investigators and their affiliates by providing essential infrastructure and expertise to advance their research and foster collaborations that will positively impact the careers of junior investigators and more established investigators. The MICRO Core will support the growth of the ICEMHH, and (i) bring it visibility through its research and training efforts, (ii) staying abreast of advancing instrumentation and technologies in microscopy, and (iii) facilitation of outreach activities to characterize Hawaii's microbiomes.
