Interdisciplinary (99) This proposal addresses two weaknesses in undergraduate science education. 1) Traditional education in the natural sciences suffers from a lack of interdisciplinary linkages. This proposal seeks to enhance interdisciplinary education in the natural sciences at Bloomsburg University through the addition of new courses and new laboratory exercises utilizing Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) as part of a new, multidisciplinary program in Environmental Sciences. 2) An interdisciplinary program of Marine Science is already taught at the Wallops Island Marine Science Center (WIMSC), of which Bloomsburg University is a member. This center is a field station for summer courses and student and faculty research, but as a traditional field station, it lacks sophisticated analytical equipment. The addition of a SEM will provide a unique opportunity to employ analytical techniques in a field setting. This proposal requests funds for the purchase of a compact model of SEM that will be used on the Bloomsburg campus during the academic year for laboratory exercises in the new Environmental Sciences curriculum, as well as for labs in other courses in the Biology and Geology curricula, and for student research. During the summer months, the machine will be used at the WIMSC, primarily for instruction in the multidisciplinary Marine Science curriculum. The SEM is a logical choice for this curricular innovation because of its successful incorporation in undergraduate education in a variety of disciplines. The ways that the SEM is being used in the classroom and field has been influenced by: o L. S. Chumbley et. al., "A New Paradigm - Multi-user Scanning Electron Microscopy," Journal of Microscopy, September 1995. o J.H. Wandersee, "Bioinstrumentation: Tools for Understanding Life," National Association of Biology Teachers (Reston, VA: 1996). o G.E. Sosinsky et. al., "The Electron Microsopy Outreach Program: A Web-based Resource for Research & Education," Journal of STructural Biology, Vol. 125, 1999, pp. 246-252. o P.D. Crowley and J.T. Cheney, "Using the Microprobe (SEM/EDS) in Undergraduate Mineralogy," Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 25, no. 6, 1993, pp. 347-348. The following are examples of ways that the SEM will be used in student research projects: o C. Jones, "Microfabric Analysis of Pleistocene and Recent Varved Clays," Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 26, no. 3, 1994, p. 27. o N.R. O'Brien and S. Pietraszek-Mattner, "Origin of the Fabric of Laminated Fine-grained Glaciolacustrine Deposts," Journal of Sedimentary Research, Vol. 68, 1998, pp. 832-840.
