| NSF Org: |
DBI Div Of Biological Infrastructure |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 11, 2020 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 11, 2020 |
| Award Number: | 2019228 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jennifer Weller
jweller@nsf.gov (703)292-2224 DBI Div Of Biological Infrastructure BIO Direct For Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | August 15, 2020 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2023 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $681,290.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $681,290.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
516 HIGH ST BELLINGHAM WA US 98225-5996 (360)650-2884 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
516 High Streert Bellingham, WA US 98225-9038 |
| Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Major Research Instrumentation |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
An award is made to Western Washington University (WWU) to purchase a microscope for high resolution quantitative analysis of biological specimens. The acquisition will facilitate interdisciplinary curriculum development, summer research programs for undergraduates, and STEM pipeline building between WWU and K-12 students in the Skagit Valley. Curricular developments will be focused on Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) that will enable ~64 undergraduate students annually to conduct quantitative fluorescence microscopy research on biological specimens through the Biology, Chemistry, Behavioral Neuroscience departments and the Shannon Point Marine Science Center (SPMC). Datasets generated through CUREs will be developed into teaching tools for lecture courses, which will expose an additional ~400 students annually to quantitative microscopy data. Summer research programs will focus on training a diverse cohort of ~16 students annually to employ time-resolved fluorescence microscopy on specimens ranging in scale from individual proteins to multi-cellular organisms. The acquisition will expose traditionally underserved K-12 students to cutting edge quantitative microscopy through the Compass2Campus program. Collectively, this instrument will become a central resource for quantitative STEM training for the entire Skagit Valley.
The scientific premise for this acquisition is focused on advancing 11 research programs from three academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, and Behavioral Neuroscience) and one national marine science center (SPMC). These research programs work on diverse biological problems that include: organelle assembly, plant development, cell signaling, marine larval development, neural synapse formation, endosymbiosis, protein biophysics, protein trafficking, DNA damage, gene expression, neural development, and aging. These research emphases span size scales that range from single molecules to multi-cellular organisms. These research emphases incorporate evolutionarily distant organisms that include protists, fungus, plants, insects and animals. The results of the scientific projects facilitated by this acquisition will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and at scientific meetings.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This Major Research Infrastructure award funded the purchase and installation of a Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope with Time Resolved Fluorescence and Environmental Control capabilities. This microscope was installed in a new optical microscopy facility at Western Washington University where it has been used by twenty-three faculty distributed across five departments (Biology, Behavioral Neuroscience, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Geology). In addition, the microscope has been used by other state instutions, including the Washington State University Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center and the Mount Vernon School District.
Research activities conducted with the microscope include the chemistry of photocatalysts critical to renewable energy, the environmental accumualtion of microplastics, the cellular ecology of marine ecosystems, the fundamental basis of DNA damage repair, evolutionarily ancient mechanisms of cell motility, the formation and maintenence of plant roots, bacterial infection of food crops, problematic autofluorescence in soil worms, the cellular basis of learning and memory, and the pathology of Huntingtin's Disease. These reserach activities have led to three published manuscripts, eight national conference presentations, and thirteen local conference presentations, with multiple undergraduate co-authors.
With respect to broad impacts beyond scientific discovery, the microscope has been used to teach ten different undergraduate courses that span small cohort-based experiences devoted to building scientific identity to large lecture courses to intensive course-based research experiences for upper-level students. In addition, the microscope has been used extensively in K-12 outreach to federally-supported low income schools in the Western Washington Region.
At the closeout of this award, fourteen undergraduates and nine graduate students are fully trained independent users of the microscope. An additional forty-two undergraduates can use the microscope with supervision to conduct course-based research. At least 150 undergraduates and at least 50 K-12 studens have received small cohort demonstrations of the microscope, including targeted outreach to aspiring first-generation college students.
Last Modified: 12/13/2023
Modified by: Domenico F Galati
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A Tetrahymena showing organized rows of basal bodies and the nucleus of the cell.Emmanuel SanchezPublic DomainDomenico F GalatiTetrahymena basal bodies
An image showing the awarded microscope installed in the new optical microscopy imaging facility on the WWU campus.Nick GalatiPublic DomainDomenico F GalatiWWU microscope installation
A worm expressing GFP within a single neuron that projects into the head of the animal.Heino Hulsey-VincentPublic DomainDomenico F GalatiWorm neurons and autofluorescence
A fluorescence image showing microtubules intertwined with cellular organelles in cultured human cells.Finn JorgensenPublic DomainDomenico F GalatiRetinal pigment cell microtubules
A depth coded projection of a Strobilidium that was cultured from the Salish Sea.Domenico F. GalatiPublic DomainDomenico F GalatiStrobilidium tubulin
CA2 region of the mouse hippocampus showing individual neurons and their axons.Jeff CantlePublic DomainDomenico F GalatiMouse hippocampusPlease report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
