This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This project will renovate laboratory space in the Moody Science Building, which was built in 1968. While Moody was remodeled in 2001, the space in question was not upgraded. The request is for new research benches with overhead storage and built-in desks, two hood replacements, modular ventilation above the benches, eye-wash stations, and dedicated instrumentation space. In addition, infrastructure such as Ethernet, vacuum and nitrogen gas lines and electrical will be upgraded or installed. Chemical storage will be moved to a small dedicated space with restricted access. These upgrades will not only enhance research infrastructure, but also ensure that safe laboratory practices for handling and storing of chemicals can be established.
The three members of this research all have industry background and conduct research in the areas of organic, analytical and materials chemistry. The renovation will improve research space for faculty and undergraduate students, and expand the number of undergraduate students who can conduct research at any given time. Schreiner University draws from a rural population in Texas with a large proportion of Hispanics. Over 50% of the students involved in undergraduate science research are female.
Schreiner University, in Kerrville, TX, is firmly grounded in its history of a liberal art education with an increased emphasis on undergraduate research in all disciplines. Founded in 1923, by a former Texas ranger, Captain Charles Schreiner, Schreiner is a small private primarily undergraduate university situated in the Hill Country of Texas. From a military prepatory school for boys it has grown into a regional hub of higher education. Schreiner University is on the cusp of breaking through the regional barrier and become a national voice for a liberal arts education but also provide a solid foundation for any student interested in the STEM fields. Prior to receiving the grant from NSF the Chemistry Department at Schreiner University has supported undergraduate research with a Welch Foundation Departmental grant. This allowed for continual support for students and gradual upgrades in instrumentation. Unfortunately, the facility where research was conducted had never been updated since its original teaching laboratory build in 1965. The Science faculty saw a need to renovate this facility to create a dedicated research space which was up to current research standards. We sought to create a space where we could provide secure storage of chemicals, allow undergraduates and faculty to collaborate across disciplines, and create a catalyst for the incorporation of new instrumentation used for research training in the undergraduate courses and direct research use by student supervised by science faculty. Since the renovation we have incorporated a Vernier mini-Gas Chromatograph, Parr constant volume bomb calorimeter, ThermoFisher Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer with diamond attenuated total internal reflection probe. Within the next two years we have plans on incorporating an Anasazi Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer and a ThermoFisher High Performance Liquid Chromatograph. Over the period of the grant we have increased the average number of females in the STEM majors, by 10%, that are either conducting organic synthesis in the new research capable hoods or use the instrumentation housed in the facility. From a research perspective we have continued to support our students with the Welch Departmental grant through stipends and research supplies. The research conducted in the facility during the grant has allowed for the novel organic synthesis of an anti-angiogenesis precursor to fumagillin that has the potential to treat multiple types of cancer, using capillary electrophoresis to quantitatively analyze mixtures of fatty acid methyl esters, and qualify that the most used cosmetic is lip balm/quantify the amount of vitamin-E in the most popular lip balms.
