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8/17/09

National Science Foundation Awards SLU Grant For Electron-Scanning Microscope

CANTON - The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded St. Lawrence University a $381,000 grant to purchase an electron-scanning microscope that will be used for multidisciplinary research, research training and undergraduate education.

Associate Professor of Geology Jeffrey Chiarenzelli is the primary investigator and will direct the project, in which several other faculty members from a variety of departments will participate. Other project team members include Antun Husinec, geology; Catherine Jahncke, physics; J. Mark Erickson, geology; Joseph Erlichman, biology; Catherine Shrady, geology; and Jill Pflugheber, microscopy technician in biology.

To be housed in the Johnson Hall of Science, the high-end scanning electron microscope, with cathodoluminescence capability and energy-dispersive analysis, will support research programs and teaching activities of the participating faculty members, as well as strengthen the research and education opportunities at the University by increasing access to fundamental research-grade scientific equipment; strengthening existing research programs; expanding resources for individual and collaborative research programs; and facilitating new avenues of research.

In addition, each of the faculty members incorporates their research directly into teaching, significantly enhancing the research training available to undergraduates. Research projects for which the equipment will be used include, in geology, geochronological, sedimentological, petrographical, mineralogical and geochemical studies; in biology, neurophysiology and treatment of strokes, the early life history of plants and animals, and symbiotic relationships among microorganisms; and in physics, study of a variety of samples from materials, such as barium titanate, to biological samples, such as butterfly wings. It will also facilitate characterizing the metal-coated optical fibers used in the near-field scanning optical microscope.

The NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; [and] to secure the national defense." With an annual budget of about $6.06 billion, the agency is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.

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