The Microscopy Core is open for level 2 research approved by your Dean
- For contact tracing, each user needs to swipe their fob on entry AND at the end of the session, so if necessary we have a record of who was in which room for how long. There is now an iOS upgrade and Android "CA Notify" tracing App for our region which will become more effective as more people use it. Use the the Qualtrics central tracking system for coming on to campus too:
Take the survey (mandatory)
- Vendors should now also use the above link rather than the previous Campus Return Form.
- Please use the alcoholic foam dispensers before you start work and after each time you touch your face.
- Gloves remain optional, and a supply is available for anyone who forgot to bring their own.
- Disposable full-face visors are also available in Keen 1007. Please re-use on subsequent visits.
- To facilitate discussion, new black glass dry-erase boards have been mounted in the lobby and the large teaching room (1007), with enough pens that you don’t need to share, and enough standing room to keep 6’.
- The confocal instruments have clingfilm dispensers so you can tear off a fresh strip for keyboard/mouse, and pull out a clean strip of cellophane to cover the eyepieces to look through an uncontaminated surface.
- Hyper HEPA air pumps have been turned higher (#4=140cfm), to clean a room-volume of air every 10 minutes.
- Occupancy limits are posted on each door (2 or 4 researchers), along with HEPA, sink, first aid and O3 availability.
- Copper metal is rapidly self-sanitizing, so door levers and knobs have been copper-coated.
- You can wipe down a bench and chair, but a research microscope is too intricate to fully clean in this way. Instead, an Ozone/UV generator has been set up in Keen 1002, 1004, 1007 and 1016 to come on at 1am for 15 minutes to help sanitize all surfaces in that room. Half-life is <10min, so safe for occupancy after 2h. Anyone wanting to work overnight, please arrange in advance to have Ozonation skipped.
- The new Hitachi TM4000ePlusII SEM was installed in Keen 1006 during stay-home. Training booklets are on top of the instrument, and a remote screen/mouse has been set up for individual training as needed. If preferred, up to 4 trainees can have PowerPoint instruction by appointment in Keen Hall 1007.
- Reliable statistics on the COVID-19 pandemic are available from many sources, including Worldometer and Ourworldindata. The Youtube Abacaba videos are especially accessible, for putting the severity of the pandemic in context.
- These are improvisations to try to make the facility safer. Please also follow social distancing protocols, always wear a face covering indoors, and work 1 to a lab when you can. Don't share your air.