The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Grinnell College $428,000 in science equipment funding through the Major Research Instrumentation Program.

Grinnell students and faculty will benefit from the NSF grant, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to purchase two mass spectrometers. The scientific instrumentation will allow students and faculty to identify, analyze, and modify molecular structures in research projects in biology, chemistry, neuroscience, and environmental science.

The equipment grant will also benefit the community of Grinnell through a local watershed project to improve understanding of water as a critical resource. The collaborative project with Grinnell Middle School students involves collections from a local lake and analysis over a multiyear period.

“The NSF grant will impact a large number of research programs since one-third of Grinnell College students major in science and about one-quarter enroll in organic chemistry, which will use the new equipment,” said Elaine Marzluff, chair of the chemistry department and a member of the grant project team. “The grant also opens new possibilities for Grinnell students to become skilled with sophisticated instrumentation at the undergraduate level that is most often only available to graduate students.”

Many Grinnell science graduates continue into top graduate programs in the country; in fact, Grinnell ranks eighth nationally in the number of graduates who later complete Ph.D.s in the sciences. To support students under-represented in the sciences, Grinnell developed The Grinnell Science Project nearly 20 years ago to encourage the talents and interest in science for students of color, first-generation college students, and women in physics, mathematics, and computer science.

As a leader in undergraduate science education, Grinnell recently announced the establishment of the Center for Science in the Liberal Arts. The center will initiate a program of scholarly research, information sharing, and academic residencies for leaders in undergraduate science education and workshops for high school science teachers.