This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
A grant has been awarded to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to acquire a laser confocal microscopy system to enhance faculty and student research and research training in the departments of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Chemistry. The equipment enhances and enables new research and teaching activities by faculty members in a wide range of environmental, biological and chemical areas including: microbial ecology, analysis of protein function, embryological development in animals, and systematic entomology. Because microscopy is central to research in many areas, including chemistry, geology, and engineering, the proposed system will promote high quality research and research collaborations beyond the projects. The results of these scientific studies will enhance the lessons taught in our classrooms, and students will gain hands-on experience in advanced microscopy and image analysis. The research studies resulting from the use of the laser confocal microscopy system will be disseminated by poster or oral presentations at regional or national meetings, by publication in peer-reviewed journals, and highlighted within the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's faculty and course related websites.
UTC is primarily an undergraduate institution that serves the needs of a diverse group of students in southern Tennessee, northern Georgia, and northern Alabama. UTC's departments of Chemistry and of Biological and Environmental Sciences have a distinguished record for undergraduate education and research, and will be the primary users of the requested equipment.
