Posted 9:15 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010
High tech will expand research on, off campus.
[caption id="attachment_719" align="alignleft" width="134" caption="UW-L receives federal science grant for $524,000."]
[/caption]UW-La Crosse students will soon work on more high-tech microscopes thanks to a $524,145 National Science Foundation grant.
The grant will allow UW-L to purchase a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). Both produce images at nanoscale resolution and open the door to unique research on and off campus.
“Many questions can be answered from imaging at the nanometer level,” says Associate Professor of Chemistry Aric Opdahl, the principal co-investigator of the grant.
“Pretty much anything can be imaged by SEM, which makes it versatile,” says Professor of Biology David Howard, a co-investigator on the grant. “This SEM will be an ‘environmental’ SEM, meaning it has the capability to image samples that are wet – which can be very important for studying biological samples.”
“For traditional SEM living samples must be extensively pretreated before imaging in a sealed low air pressure enclosure, which can alter the structures you are trying to see,” Howard explains. “With this new generation SEM, samples can be studied more directly, without those preparation steps.”
The other microscope, the AFM, can study relatively flat samples in air and liquid. “The AFM has an atomically sharp tip that scans across the surface being studied. In some ways, it allows one to actually feel the surface at the nanoscale,”?says Opdahl. “For example, in addition to providing detailed images of topography, it can be used to study mechanical properties of small regions of a surface, like elasticity, hardness and adhesion.”
The microscopes will significantly broaden the research capabilities of UW-L student and faculty researchers, leading to collaboration on campus and beyond, says Opdahl. “We expect these instruments will increase collaboration among departments at UW-L and expand collaborative research with Gundersen Lutheran and the Upper Mississippi Environmental Science Center,” he says. “Since so many research areas benefit from the ability to image at nanoscale resolution, we expect collaborations with regional campuses, agencies, and industry will greatly increase.”
That research will range from health issues to the Mississippi River. A few specific research areas planned are: “Determining how human parainfluenza virus produces more virus particles,” “Studying how some bacterial proteins form holes in the surfaces of red blood cells,” and “Better understanding the food web in the upper Mississippi River.”
Researchers in biology, chemistry, microbiology and physics will put the microscopes to good use, says Opdahl. The grant includes more than 10 specific research projects from faculty in four College of Science and Health departments. Along with Opdahl and Howard are: Scott Cooper, Anne Galbraith and Roger Haro, Biology; Eric Gansen and Seth King, Physics; Todd Weaver, Chemistry; and Michael Hoffman, Microbiology; and Carl Simon Shelley, Gundersen Lutheran.
“This is the first major instrumentation grant involving four academic departments and 10 faculty members,” says Associate Vice Chancellor V.J. Agarwal. “It is truly an interdisciplinary and collaborative project.”
Funding for the microscopes is part of NSF monies received from last year’s Recovery Act. UW-L most recently received NFS funding for other high-tech instruments in 2009 and 2006. UW-L will fund the ongoing maintenance of the instruments which should be in a Cowley Hall lab this summer.
The buzz about the new high-tech pieces —
The SEM and AFM are two distinctly different instruments. Both produce images at nanometer resolution. The SEM scans a beam of electrons across a surface; the AFM scans an atomically sharp tip across a surface. The instruments are complementary in the types of samples that can be studied and the information they provide.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs would like to congratulate several faculty from the College of Science and Health on their $524,145 National Science Foundation grant award, entitled “Acquisition of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) for a Multidisciplinary Core Imaging Facility”. The PI for the grant is Aric Opdahl (Chemistry), and the co-PI’s are Anne Galbraith (Biology), David Howard (Biology), Seth King (Physics), and Todd Weaver (Chemistry). Other faculty members involved in the project include Scott Cooper (Biology), Eric Gansen (Physics), Roger Haro (Biology), Michael Hoffman (Microbiology), and Carl Simon Shelley (an adjunct faculty in Microbiology). This is the first major instrumentation grant which involved 4 academic departments and 10 faculty members, a truly interdisciplinary and collaborative project, says Associate Vice Chancellor Agarwal. The University is pleased to commit additional funds ( $55,000) to support the ongoing maintenance of the instruments and for initial supplies and consumables, according to Agarwal. The addition of these state-of-the-art SEM and AFM will significantly broaden the research capabilities of our scientists at UW-L and possibly lead to active collaboration within and beyond our campus.
[/caption]UW-La Crosse students will soon work on more high-tech microscopes thanks to a $524,145 National Science Foundation grant.
The grant will allow UW-L to purchase a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). Both produce images at nanoscale resolution and open the door to unique research on and off campus.
“Many questions can be answered from imaging at the nanometer level,” says Associate Professor of Chemistry Aric Opdahl, the principal co-investigator of the grant.
“Pretty much anything can be imaged by SEM, which makes it versatile,” says Professor of Biology David Howard, a co-investigator on the grant. “This SEM will be an ‘environmental’ SEM, meaning it has the capability to image samples that are wet – which can be very important for studying biological samples.”
“For traditional SEM living samples must be extensively pretreated before imaging in a sealed low air pressure enclosure, which can alter the structures you are trying to see,” Howard explains. “With this new generation SEM, samples can be studied more directly, without those preparation steps.”
The other microscope, the AFM, can study relatively flat samples in air and liquid. “The AFM has an atomically sharp tip that scans across the surface being studied. In some ways, it allows one to actually feel the surface at the nanoscale,”?says Opdahl. “For example, in addition to providing detailed images of topography, it can be used to study mechanical properties of small regions of a surface, like elasticity, hardness and adhesion.”
The microscopes will significantly broaden the research capabilities of UW-L student and faculty researchers, leading to collaboration on campus and beyond, says Opdahl. “We expect these instruments will increase collaboration among departments at UW-L and expand collaborative research with Gundersen Lutheran and the Upper Mississippi Environmental Science Center,” he says. “Since so many research areas benefit from the ability to image at nanoscale resolution, we expect collaborations with regional campuses, agencies, and industry will greatly increase.”
That research will range from health issues to the Mississippi River. A few specific research areas planned are: “Determining how human parainfluenza virus produces more virus particles,” “Studying how some bacterial proteins form holes in the surfaces of red blood cells,” and “Better understanding the food web in the upper Mississippi River.”
Researchers in biology, chemistry, microbiology and physics will put the microscopes to good use, says Opdahl. The grant includes more than 10 specific research projects from faculty in four College of Science and Health departments. Along with Opdahl and Howard are: Scott Cooper, Anne Galbraith and Roger Haro, Biology; Eric Gansen and Seth King, Physics; Todd Weaver, Chemistry; and Michael Hoffman, Microbiology; and Carl Simon Shelley, Gundersen Lutheran.
“This is the first major instrumentation grant involving four academic departments and 10 faculty members,” says Associate Vice Chancellor V.J. Agarwal. “It is truly an interdisciplinary and collaborative project.”
Funding for the microscopes is part of NSF monies received from last year’s Recovery Act. UW-L most recently received NFS funding for other high-tech instruments in 2009 and 2006. UW-L will fund the ongoing maintenance of the instruments which should be in a Cowley Hall lab this summer.
The buzz about the new high-tech pieces —
The SEM and AFM are two distinctly different instruments. Both produce images at nanometer resolution. The SEM scans a beam of electrons across a surface; the AFM scans an atomically sharp tip across a surface. The instruments are complementary in the types of samples that can be studied and the information they provide.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs would like to congratulate several faculty from the College of Science and Health on their $524,145 National Science Foundation grant award, entitled “Acquisition of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) for a Multidisciplinary Core Imaging Facility”. The PI for the grant is Aric Opdahl (Chemistry), and the co-PI’s are Anne Galbraith (Biology), David Howard (Biology), Seth King (Physics), and Todd Weaver (Chemistry). Other faculty members involved in the project include Scott Cooper (Biology), Eric Gansen (Physics), Roger Haro (Biology), Michael Hoffman (Microbiology), and Carl Simon Shelley (an adjunct faculty in Microbiology). This is the first major instrumentation grant which involved 4 academic departments and 10 faculty members, a truly interdisciplinary and collaborative project, says Associate Vice Chancellor Agarwal. The University is pleased to commit additional funds ( $55,000) to support the ongoing maintenance of the instruments and for initial supplies and consumables, according to Agarwal. The addition of these state-of-the-art SEM and AFM will significantly broaden the research capabilities of our scientists at UW-L and possibly lead to active collaboration within and beyond our campus.