BRYN MAWR RECEIVES SHERMAN FAIRCHILD FOUNDATION GRANT

Bryn Mawr has received a $484,438 grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to purchase equipment for undergraduate-curriculum development and research opportunities in the interdisciplinary fields of environmental studies, neural and behavioral sciences, and materials and surface analysis. The new instrumentation will be shared among the biology, chemistry, geology, physics and psychology departments and used to investigate scientific problems from multiple disciplinary perspectives. It will also enhance Bryn Mawr's capacity to provide students with exposure to sophisticated research equipment, methodologies and processes of inquiry to address broadly relevant questions grounded in real-world problems and at the forefront of research.

To strengthen the concentration in environmental studies, the biology, chemistry and geology departments will add laboratory/field components on water and soil quality, animal and plant ecology, mapping/topographic studies, and weather and climate monitoring to existing courses.

The biology and psychology departments will develop and team-teach a new upper-level laboratory course affiliated with the concentration in neural and behavioral sciences. From Channels to Behavior will introduce students to the principles, research approaches and methodologies of cellular and behavioral neuroscience.

In the area of surface and materials analysis, the chemistry, geology and physics departments will incorporate scanning probe microscopy, a powerful technique used to study the surfaces of materials, into existing laboratory courses. In doing so, undergraduates will gain exposure to research-grade instrumentation and a state-of-the-art analytical tool integral to the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology research.

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