The PI requests MRI RAPID funding to Acquire a Hitachi S-3400N-II Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscope with an Analytical Quantitative Element Detector. This instrument will support a wide range of faculty and student research projects, including analysis of volcanic material ejected from the currently erupting volcano; analysis of locally-collected plankton, micro-molluscs, and botanical samples; sediment cores showing evidence of paleo-tsunami activity; analysis of Native Hawaiian artifacts in use-wear studies; and chemical / structural analysis of pharmaceutical crystal characteristics using SEM/EDS technology.
Broader Impacts
The equipment will enhance a new graduate program, several science programs and over twenty courses at the university. It will provide unique learning opportunities at the only 4 year college on the Big Island of Hawaii, a population base of great ethnic diversity. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory collaboration should be fruitful and opportunities for pre-college students are described. The multi-ethnic nature of the population of students (and everyone really on Hawaii) is clearly demonstrated, so NSF support would enhance the utilization of tax payer funds to under-served portion of the US population. And an SEM is an instrument which easily lends itself to outreach to high school and broad community application/ appreciation as "(microscopic) pictures are worth 1000s of words"
The new SEM at University of Hawaii Hilo facilitates research and experiential learning experiences University of Hawaii Hilo received funds from NSF in 2010 to acquire a scanning electron microscope with elemental analysis capabilities (SEM/EDS), and has since developed an active SEM/EDS facility around that acquisition (Fig. 1). Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on Hawai`i Island (the ‘Big Island’), UH Hilo strives to broaden its impact on Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders and other minorities in STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) including women. Many UH Hilo faculty maintain active research programs in addition to teaching, and faculty research is widely used as a means to engage students in experiential learning experiences. The development of the new SEM/EDS laboratory facilitated by this grant has greatly facilitated both research and experiential learning among our students in several disciplines on our campus. Providing training and experience on the SEM One of the mechanisms that was developed in order to help undergraduate and graduate students gain familiarity with SEM/EDS was a lower-division introductory course on the principles and general operating procedures of the instrument. This class covers broad principles of SEM/EDS and was designed to emphasize hands-on experience with the instrument. Although taught from within the Marine Science department, this course was designed to allow students interested in SEM/EDS from any discipline to participate. Additionally, several undergraduate classes now use the SEM/EDS facility for either an ‘introductory tour’ in lower division classes or for hands-on laboratory modules in upper-division classes. Revealing new perspectives on marine ecosystems Although the large charismatic organisms of the marine environment can immediately attract the attention of undergraduates, the availability of SEM/EDS capabilities at UH Hilo has enabled students to see and better understand the importance of microbes (Fig. 2), leading to several research projects such as examinations of marine plankton (Fig2A, 2B, 2C); the chemical composition of plankton micro-molluscs (Fig 2D, 2E); the presence and composition microbes on ‘marine debris’ that accumulates in the central Pacific ocean and regularly washes up on our shores; and even microscopic examination of corals (Fig 2F). This helps broaden the perspective of undergraduate students, because nothing sparks interest more than being able to see the organisms responsible for processes that otherwise would only be read about in classroom text books. SEM aids archaeologists working at ancient Hawaiian dig sites Faculty and students from the UH Hilo Anthropology Department have used SEM to examine different types of wood charcoal looking for diagnostic morphologies (Fig 3). This information can be used to identify charcoal recovered from ancient Hawaiian archaeological dig sites and tell us about resource use and availability. One of our undergraduate students took on a project of cataloging SEM of known charcoal types, which may then be used to identify unknown fragments collected at dig sites. Note the differences between two common trees in Hawaii, wiliwili (Erythrina sadwichensis) and koa (Acacia koa) in Fig 3, which would not be visible to the naked eye or even a standard light microscope. Revealing the unseen side of familiar ??hi?a forests of Hawai`i Island While many people have familiarity with the majestic ??hi?a (Metrosideros polymorpha) forests that exist on Hawaii Island, fewer have ever seen or given much thought to the microscopic organisms living on an ??hi?a leaf. The image in Fig 4 was taken and false-colored by a UH Hilo undergraduate student as part of a project to allow online examination of an ??hi?a forest from the macro- to microscopic-scale. SEM and elemental analysis – developing new tools for monitoring active volcanoes Finally, Hawaii Island is known for its active volcanoes, and UHH faculty and students, in collaboration with the USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, have been using the new SEM/EDS along with other facilities to help monitor the current Kilauea eruption (Fig. 5). Hawaii Island geologists can collect newly ejected lava daily, and techniques are being investigated that will allow near real-time detection of changes in mineral composition of lava rather than the weeks-months typically required for mineral analysis. For people living on an island that hosts active volcanoes, this is a critically important pursuit to which we are proud to make a contribution.
