Aquisition of a Digital Imaging System Will Enhance Scientific Research and Curricula at a Minority Undergraduate Institution

Cuny Baruch College, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to Baruch College of the City University of New York (CUNY) under the direction of Drs. Valerie Schawaroch and John Wahlert. The award will be used to purchase a state of the art macro and micro digital imaging system (MDIS) to be used in numerous investigations on fruit flies, fossil mice and plant mites and to create online study materials for students in basic biology courses. Research projects that will employ the MDIS system include: I. To investigate, clearly identify, and illustrate closely-related fruit flies that are very difficult to distinguish from one another without microscopic examination. Three projects are envisioned. One samples putative species from Black Rock Forest, Cornwall, New York, whose coloration varies seasonally. The second describes new species of flies from Madagascar and Viet Nam. II. To investigate evolutionary relationships of a rare extinct cricetid rodent (New World mice) and to fully describe its skull features and teeth, in comparison with extinct cricetids of similar geologic age. Students will dissect recent cricetids for anatomical comparison with the fossil skulls. The UV capability of the MDIS is especially useful in distinguishing certain tissue types and documenting progressive stages of dissection. III. To document the spatial and density distribution of a predator-prey (mite) system. Data from these experiments will be used to test a newly proposed energy flow model for harvesting populations. The effects of UV radiation on mites from New York and Florida populations will be compared and documented using the MDIS. The MDIS will have broad impact for the education and training of future scientists. Undergraduate students from Baruch College, an urban minority institution, will be able to use the MDIS for research. This will provide the students with highly resolved, publication quality images that will be used for dissemination of the research. The MDIS will be used to enhance and compliment classroom instruction in such courses as introductory biology, comparative anatomy, and genetics. MDIS images, generated in these courses, will be posted on the Baruch College web site for use by students and interested members of the public. Baruch College students will serve as peer mentors for high school students at the Baruch College Campus High School and at the Newark Museum for science projects employing the MDIS.