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Adventures in Microscopy

While I was an undergraduate in Genetics & Plant Biology, I took Plant and Animal Microtechnique, a course taught by Dr. Steve Ruzin and Dr. Denise Schichnes at CNR's Biological Imaging Facility.   With the microwave paraffin embedding techniques that I learned in that course, I was able to create images like this:

Bok Choi (Brassica rapa) flower cross-section stained with Sharman's


I've taken the skills that I learned with that solid introduction to microtechnique, and with my graduate work I have moved on to electron microscopy.

This semester I'm taking two courses through the Electron Microscopy Facility at Miami University. One is a lecture course on Electron Microscopy Theory, and the other is on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques.

Here's a picture of our instructor Matt Duley with the microscope I'm currently learning to use:


I'm learning the basics - everything from plant sample preparation to operating the microscope.  I'll even learn backscatter technique.

The best part about training with the EMF at Miami is that there are no expensive lab fees associated with their courses - and anyone who has a project in mind and a subject they'd like to image can sign up.  They're available not only to those in the biological sciences, but also to geologists, structural engineers, physicists, artists, and more.

Here are a few pictures I've taken with the JEOL 840A.

Tin Balls



Gear from a wristwatch




Trichomes of a geranium leaf

Christina
posted October 9, 2009 8:31 AM

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