NDSU staff and faculty recently demonstrated the remote capability of the university’s scanning electron microscope to a group of North Dakota science educators.

Kim Owen, advanced applications coordinator in the Information Technology division; Jayma Moore, laboratory manager for the Electron Microscopy Center core facility; and James Nyachwaya, core faculty for chemistry and biochemistry teacher education in the School of Education, presented an interactive session at the North Dakota Science Teachers Association 2014 Spring Conference.

With Owens in Valley City and Moore and Nyachwaya participating by videoconference from the Electron Microscopy Center on the NDSU campus, the team demonstrated the remote capability of the university’s JEOL JSM-6490LV scanning electron microscope. The microscope can be operated by students through a school computer and high-speed Internet connection to observe a wide variety of samples at high magnification. It is available for use at no charge by K-12 classroom teachers who would like to incorporate it into their science curriculum. 

The topic of the Feb. 21 conference, held in the Rhoades Science Center on the campus of Valley City State University, was “Next Generation Science: Standards, STEM, Sustainability.” 

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.