We are proposing to purchase a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS), a compatible GC, and the appropriate equipment to create a Moravian College Scientific Instrumentation Network (MOCOSIN) linking laboratories and classrooms in the Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, and Physics Departments. This combination of the instruments and MOCOSIN is designed to: introduce mass spectrometry and GC- MS into the curriculum across the sciences; facilitate efficient use of expensive resources throughout the science division; encourage broad collaboration among faculty and students by providing an intellectual as well as an electronic link among students and faculty of all departments; and provide all science departments with a connection to NSFNET.The combination of an MS and a GC, a versatile and powerful tool for separating complex mixtures and characterizing their components, will be used as a connecting thread for courses across the natural sciences. GC-MS will be introduced to students in General Physics and Chemistry courses where it will be used to illustrate isotopes and mass spectrometry. Students will use GC-MS again in intermediate level Biology, Chemistry and Physics courses as an analytical tool for separation and identification of organic compounds. Since all Biology majors take Organic Chemistry and all Chemistry majors take General Physics, by the time students use the GC-MS in their advanced Biology or Chemistry courses, they will have gained considerable sophistication in the use of the instrument. We believe our particular combination of the experiments and electronic network is unique and should serve as a model for other small colleges.
