CCMR’s First Biological Sample Prep Graduates (Nov 2015)

Congratulations to our newest electron microscopists who have completed the CCMR Electron Microscopy Facility’s Biological Sample Preparation Training class for biologists or non-biologists. This microscopists come from the departments of Plant Pathology, Biomedical Engineering (BME) and the Veterinary School, and were taught by John Grazul who has decades of experience and can literally get anything into an electron microscope, from apples to insects, elephants and more.
The five-session class is hands-on with each student performing all preparation techniques under the supervision of the instructor, starting from dissection of mammal and plant material, proceeding to fixation, embedding, ultra-microtomy. Students are also taught how to prepare viruses and bacteria (two different preps for bacteria). Lastly, students are trained to perform imaging in a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Upon class completion, students have 24/7 access to the biological preparation facilities (in Duffield Hall) and the TEM (in Bard Hall).
The next classes to be taught will include Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) imaging of plant and animal material. We will be conducting this course several times each year depending on the level of interest. If interested, please contact John Grazul (jlg98@cornell.edu).