This award provides two-thirds of the funding needed to upgrade and modernize the electron microprobe in the Department of Mineral Sciences at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City. AMNH is committed to providing the remaining funds required. The upgrade consists of a computer automation system and the installation of a new synthetic light-element crystal that will allow quantitative analysis of the elements oxygen and nitrogen and improve the detection limits for fluorine. The staff of the Department of Mineral Sciences at AMNH are involved in research projects and curatorial activities for the museum's valuable collection which require the quantitative chemical micro-analytical capabilities of a modern electron microprobe system.
