MRI-R2: From Molecules to Ecosystems: Establishment of the Skidmore Analytical Interdisciplinary Laboratory (SAIL)

Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This Major Research Instrumentation-Recovery and Reinvestment (MRI-R2) award funds the acquisition of a suite of instruments suitable for elemental analysis (atomic absorption and x-ray fluorescence), ion analysis (ion chromatograph), molecular analysis (infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) as well as direct functional analysis (a CO2 and H20 gas analyzer) at Skidmore College. The instrumentation will enrich and transform the diverse research of nine faculty members from biology, environmental studies, chemistry and anthropology to understand the structure and function of their research system at the molecular, cellular, ecosystem, or societal level. Additionally, the instrumentation will advance a diverse suite of research questions, including but not limited to those that explore how cell wall composition changes during differentiation, how organic matter stoichiometry and biological communities couples nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in terrestrial and aquatic systems, how ions migrate through polymer-coated capillaries under flow conditions, and, how, when and where technology transfers occurred during the transformation of rural jungle societies to networked stratified polities. Skidmore College has a strong tradition of faculty-undergraduate research and the College has significantly increased its commitment to the sciences, with a concomitant increase in scholarship by its faculty and the proportion of students that pursue advanced degrees in the sciences. Data from the research projects enabled by the new instruments will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, and through student and faculty presentations at regional and national meetings.