The Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, located on Maine's Boothbay Harbor, has been a center for marine research since 1974. The Lab is best known for research on marine phytoplankton. In addition to hosting both resident and visiting researchers, the Lab is the site of the Provasoli-Guillard Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton, the MacIsaac Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility, and a remote sensing laboratory. Dr. Robert Andersen, a staff research scientist at Bigelow Lab, proposes acquisition of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) for the Lab. Acquisition of the proposed TEM would have a substantial impact on both the quality and quantity of research accomplished at Bigelow Lab. The closest electron microscope is currently in Orono, Maine, a two hour drive from the Lab. This distance discourages many visiting scientists from initiating research at the Lab, and hinders those researchers working there. The Culture Collection at the Lab is an important international systematic resource, and the presence of a TEM would facilitate an immediate high level of research activity. Bigelow Lab has an excellent reputation for supporting visiting scientists with facilities and instrumentation. The proposed acquisition of a multi-user TEM would benefit a wide range of marine biologists, oceanographers, microbiologists and evolutionary systematists.
