This Major Research Instrumentation award funds the acquisition of a confocal microscopy system at Whitman College. The new confocal system greatly expands Whitman College imaging capabilities, provides new research possibilities for undergraduates, and improved opportunities to integrate research into courses in Biology, Physics and our integrative Biochemistry, Biophysics, & Molecular Biology Program. Research projects that will utilize the new microscope include studies of neuronal growth and neural system development, protein crystallization, plant physiology, pollen formation, and a range of other topics. The system is also integral to a workshop co-taught by Physics and Biology professors. The confocal will be the only accessible instrument of its kind in the region, and will have a broad impact on the surrounding community through use by researchers at neighboring institutions and for demonstrations in existing Whitman outreach programs for middle school teachers, middle school and Latino high school students. Results from the studies conducted with the confocal microscope will be broadly disseminated through abstracts and peer reviewed publications, as well as by active participation of students and faculty at professional meetings.
Interdisciplinary training of state of the imaging and microscopy is a vital experience for our nation’s future scientists. The major goals of this project were to acquire a laser scanning confocal microscope to strengthen training and outreach missions at our exclusively undergraduate liberal arts institution, as well as to advance research of 5 faculty members and their undergraduate collaborators. The major investigators of the project brought expertise in neurobiology, plant genomics, biophysics, cell and developmental biology, and all are actively engaged in providing training and research opportunities to undergraduates. Acquisition of this microscope enabled new research activities including collaborative projects to study the interactions between neurons and nonneuronal glial cells during development and independent research projects investigating neuron development in vitro, quantitative analysis of early events in neuroanatomical plasticity using the complex environment model in rats, combined cell imaging with electrophysiology to study structure-function relationships in the brain, functional characterization of novel plant genes, using the genomic model system Arabidopsis thaliana to enable localization of gene products and cellular analyses of embryos and developing pollen, and a novel use of laser scanning and interference contrast optics to characterize macromolecular crystal formation. Thus far, the project has produced 3 research papers, 6 presentations at national or international meetings, and 1 grant proposal under review. Support for this project lead to important infrastructure development, and training. In the first year of the award, renovations were undertaken and completed to build a new microscopy suite and the microscope was acquired, installed, and both PI, coPIs and students were trained to use the equipment. We have provided hands-on training for 26 undergraduate students (5 of whom were hired as a result of their microscopy and research experience), and reached over 200 more through demonstrations and new learning modules on imaging technology associated with both our introductory and upper level classes. In addition, it has lead to broad dissemination of images acquired using our imaging facilities, such as the one above.
