MRI: New Visions: Acquisition of a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope for Integrating Research and Research Training in Biology

Appalachian State University, Boone NC

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support for acquisition of a modern Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM) to be housed in a microscopy facility accessible to all faculty of the institution and their students, and to faculty and students at other academic institutions in the region. A full-time Director of the Microscopy Facility will train users of the CLSM. The microscope is expected to both improve and expand research and research training at the Institution through its use in research experimentation, research training of faculty and students, integration of experimental design/research training into formal classroom and laboratory instruction, and community outreach efforts. Among the research programs to benefit from availability of the instrument are studies of eye designs in basal metazoans, analysis of arthropod head segmentation, efforts to elucidate the effect of sphingolipid changes and of senescence on membrane microdomain structure and function, and studies of embryonic control mechanisms in model crustaceans. The planned studies will contribute new knowledge to the fields of cell biology, developmental biology, neurobiology, physiology, and evolutionary biology. All projects will provide research training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and, together with faculty users, students will participate in a monthly student/ faculty research seminar series where experimental design, bioimaging, and current literature will be discussed. Student users will be encouraged to present their findings at professional meetings and to publish their results in peer reviewed journals. Additional faculty and students in 8 departments are expected to use confocal imaging in their research and research training activities. Use or demonstration of the CLSM will be incorporated into biology teaching laboratories and science education classes at the institution and at some neighboring community colleges. The microscopy facility is expected to serve as a regional facility, thus permitting access to a state of the art CLSM for faculty and students at nearby institutions that currently lack this important tool for modern cell and developmental biology.