Acquisition of a Scanning Electron Microscope Facility for the Triangle Universities Earth Science Analytical Consortium (Duke, NSCU, UNC-CH)

This award provides 36% of the funds needed for the acquisition of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) system that will be installed and operated in the Department of Geology at the University of North Carolina. The facility will be accessible to faculty and students from the Triangle Universities Earth Science Analytical Consortium (University of North Carolina, Duke University, and North Carolina State University). The three universities are committed to providing the remaining funds necessary for this acquisition. The instrument system will be used in a diverse set of research and teaching applications in micropaleontology, carbonate petrology, sedimentology, paleoceanography, igneous petrology, and geochemistry.