Early Career: Acquisition of a Three-Spectrometer, High-Definition Scanning Electron Microscope for Research and Education in the Geosciences

University Of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia MO

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Missouri will acquire a custom-designed, high-definition Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for research on preserved soft-body fossils from the dawn of animal life about 550 million years ago. High-resolution photos of mineralization that preserves soft tissue can expand the understanding of the evolution of animal life beyond the bones, teeth, or shells that make up the bulk of the fossil record. The new instrument can decipher what aspects of fossil anatomy reflect original biology and evolutionary significance and what reflect post-mortem decay, fossilization, and mineralization processes. Images from the instrument will be used in an interactive science-and-art exhibit at the University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology. The University of Missouri will acquire a three-spectrometer, high-definition, variable-pressure scanning electron microscope (SEM) to support research and educational activities in paleobiology and geochemistry. Highly accurate compositional analysis will be coupled with sub-nanometer imaging resolution to characterize the mineralogy of a wide array of Earth science samples. This instrument and associated personnel will support research on the exceptional cases of soft-tissue fossil preservation at the dawn of animal life across the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition, which is a time of close interaction between biological and geological systems. The early-career principal investigator will provide training on the custom SEM to faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students as well as develop a museum program on the "science of the everyday world" for high-school students and the general public.