This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This award funds the acquisition of a new scanning electron microscope (SEM) at Whitman College. Whitman College has a track record of 24 years of successful research and student training using scanning electron microscopy. The college's previous SEM is no longer functional, and new faculty research programs require the acquisition of a new instrument capable of capturing higher resolution images and handling wet biological samples, such as plant embryos and cultured neurons. Features of this new SEM will allow diverse applications: very low vacuum will allow research of hydrous Arabidopsis samples for studies of gene functions in plant development, and the three-nanometer resolution will enable high-quality digital photos of brain cells, evolutionary adaptations of snake fangs, surfaces of protein crystals, and traces related to the function and manufacture of prehistoric tools; these are all components of current, student-centered research programs. Furthermore the award funds an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) attachment that will acquire and map chemical compositions of stone tools for provenance studies, compositions of minerals in volcanic rocks for estimates of pressure and temperatures of pre-eruption crystallization, and compositional variation of carbonate-rich root casts for carbon cycle studies. This enhanced SEM therefore will strengthen the research programs of eight faculty members, including two junior faculty, in three different departments (Biology, Geology, Anthropology), and it will contribute to cross-disciplinary research. Research results will be presented at national and regional meetings, submitted for publication in disciplinary journals, and featured on the Whitman College website.
The SEM will also have considerable broader impacts. Whitman College has an excellent record of training student researchers, with 50% of students participating in research with the investigators going on to graduate or professional schools. More than 50% of students involved in research have been women or members of underrepresented groups. Because SEM is used in a wide variety of private, governmental, and academic research fields, use of this instrument in multiple upper-level courses, as well as research, will prepare students for sophisticated post-graduate work. Acquisition of an enhanced, environmental SEM will therefore promote Whitman's ability to continue its strong track record of student training and faculty research.
