9419277 Davis This award provides partial funding (33% of total cost) for the acquisition of a scanning electron microscope system to be installed and operated in the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. The institution is committed to matching funds for one-third of the costs and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will provide the remaining one-third of the funding needed. The new capabilities of a modern scanning electron microscope will be used to benefit research and education in the areas of mineral physics, paleontology, stratigraphy, igneous and metamorphic petrology, geochemistry, cosmochemistry, interstellar grain studies, and studies of the origin of the elements. ***