Upgrading the Binghamton University Geoscience microscopy/fluid inclusion laboratory involves obtaining new equipment that will facilitate ongoing NSF-funded research projects on the chemistry of ancient seawater and geobiology. Current research involves searching for microorganisms and ancient DNA trapped in brine inclusions for periods of 104-106 years in Quaternary salt cores from three basins (Death Valley, Salar de Atacama, Chile, and Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia). The goal is to obtain data on the distribution, survival, and diversity of microorganisms in fluid inclusions in saline minerals that have been in the subsurface for periods of several hundred thousand years. These projects require identification of micron-size organisms in fluid inclusions in crystals. The optical microscope system purchased with this grant will facilitate observation of microbes. Fluid inclusion drilling and extraction will be facilitated with the purchase of a precision drill and mount for motion control; a laminar flow hood would protect brine inclusions from contamination. An upgrade of the miscroscopy/fluid inclusion laboratory will benefit the students and faculty in the Department of Geological Sciences at Binghamton University. Undergraduate and graduate students will receive instruction and training in the use of equipment, and several courses will use the laboratory for instruction. Summer workshops will be organized to provide training and curriculum development for local middle school and high school teachers in geobiology; the microscopy/fluid inclusion laboratory will be used for these workshops.
