This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This Major Research Instrumentation Recovery and Reinvestment (MRI-R2) Program grant supports acquisition of an x-ray diffractometer (XRD) and an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) to enhance faculty and undergraduate research at the College of Wooster, an independent liberal arts college in northeast Ohio. Two of the PIs (Pollock and Judge) are new NSF PIs, a goal of the NSF for the expenditure of ARRA funds. The XRD and XRF will support mineral phase identification, crystallographic structure refinements and elemental analysis of natural materials, respectively. PI and student research in igneous petrology, environmental chemistry, materials science, paleoclimate and archaeology will take advantage of the requested instrumental capabilities. The College of Wooster maintains an independent study requirement for all students and the XRD and XRF will support student research training. The PIs will integrate instrumental experience into existing outreach programs that target middle school girls, high school students, and local teachers.
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