MRI/RUI: Acquisition of a Transmission Electron Microscope for Multidisciplinary Research and Education

Connecticut College, New London CT

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to Connecticut College under the direction of Dr. T. Page Owen for the purchase of a digital transmission electron microscope (TEM) to be used by the Departments of Botany, Chemistry, Psychology and Zoology. The TEM will advance research and research training activities in cellular and materials sciences. Along with the rest of the science and math departments at the College, the programmatic offerings of the life sciences, chemistry and neurobiology are dedicated to providing its majors with an outstanding educational experience, including multidisciplinary research training and grant-supported research opportunities. The overarching philosophy in the sciences is that teaching and research with undergraduates is one unified activity. TheTEM will fulfills tremendous need for on-site and hands-on access to modern instrumentation as a research tool. Acquisition of the TEM for biological and chemical samples will have an immense intellectual impact on the productivity and quality of faculty and student experiences, bringing together faculty from four different departments into an interdisciplinary venture in ongoing and planned research projects, including: (1) the assembly and activity of the Golgi apparatus in plant cells, (2) the structure of wing muscle tissue in flightless Drosophila, (3) the control of cell division in freshwater sponges after diapause, (4) the changes in mouse astrocytes expressing a cyclin-dependent protein kinase, (5) the immunolocalization of neurotransmitters in rat brains in response to predator odor, and (6) the organization of microporous manganese oxides with layered and tunneled structures. These research plans incorporate very meaningful participation by undergraduates in faculty research. Additional research projects, through student-initiated research, will also use the new TEM. With the instrument, faculty in the different departments can also begin implementing ultrastructural experiments in laboratories of upper division cell and developmental biology, neuroscience, and physical, inorganic, and analytical chemistry courses. Additionally, the digitally imaging capabilities of the new TEM will make surveys of cell and tissue ultrastructure possible in introductory courses. This instrument will have a broad impact on the botany, chemistry, psychology, and zoology education programs by introducing TEM into the curriculum, where it was previously present in a limited capacity. Experience gained through the routine hands-on operation of modern TEM instrumentation in beginning- to advanced-level laboratories, in addition to individual research projects with faculty, will be invaluable for the students, and a critically important part of the educational process of preparing students at different levels for careers in science.