This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Funds from this grant will support the acquisition of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a variable temperature sample stage, cathodoluminescence (CL) and energy dispersive spectrometers (EDS). The SEM will support the research and teaching activities at least nine faculty members across the disciplines of geology, biology, and physics at Saint Lawrence University, an undergraduate institution. Two of the PIs are new to the NSF proposal process. The SEM will serve the needs of a broad group of productive scientists for applications in tectonics /geochronology, identification of fossils in marine carbonates, research in neuroscience, and characterization of novel ceramics. Undergraduate student access to an on campus state-of-the-art SEM will facilitate student engagement in modern research methods and better prepare them for careers in numerous high tech industries that rely on high resolution microscopy for materials characterization.
