A grant has been awarded to Smith College under the supervision of Dr. Michael J. Barresi and Co-PI, Dr. Richard Briggs to acquire high-resolution microscopy for research in live cell imaging. The Center for Microscopy and Imaging at Smith will house the NSF supported acquisition of Leica?s SP5 Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope with live cell imaging capabilities. Researchers at Smith College, as well as the other institutions participating in the Five College Consortium (Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts), will enter a new frontier of biological research, studying molecules, cells and tissues in the living state. The remarkable flexibility of this confocal microscope will support a diverse array of research topics that represent three unifying themes of investigation based on scale: the study of specific molecular mechanisms; understanding unicellular structure, function and behavior; and analysis of whole organism development and physiology. The proposed instrumentation will directly impact the research programs of 18 faculty from the Five Colleges listed above as well as an estimated 30 graduate students and 80 undergraduates.
Smith College is the nation?s largest liberal arts college for women and is among the top schools producing the greatest number of woman pursuing careers in science. Therefore, one of the main purposes of this newly funded instrumentation will be training highly motivated, diverse undergraduates, many from underrepresented groups, including first-generation college students. This modern microscope system will also serve as a focal point for various outreach activities to area schools and summer science programs targeting young women from underrepresented minority groups. Lastly, because of the strong Five College support for this instrument, this confocal microscope will be an important catalyst for inter-college collaborations that would not typically develop. Such interactions can help stimulate new directions and open doors for students to pursue careers in science and research. Because this instrumentation will provide whole new levels of analysis previously unavailable, the most exciting impacts will probably be those scientific findings that cannot even be predicted.
