The Bioimaging and Analytical Core Labs offer cutting edge imaging and analysis of intact biofilms for academia and industry at the heart of the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University. Our imaging technology allows us to capture with ultimate precision the position, interactions, activity, and identification of microbes in real-time from intact samples. With our broad range of analytical capabilities, we can determine how microbes are interacting and altering their environmental conditions. We provide one-on-one training, method development, proposal writing, troubleshooting and data analysis services to help you meet your biofilm-related analytical and imaging needs. Our staff are highly trained and specialized experts with Ph.D.’s in biofilm science. Our bioimaging and analytical and core labs are equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and methods to provide you with the best results and images of your biofilm or other complex samples.

The Cryo-EM core facility at MSU is a regional facility that brings state of the art cryo-EM capabilities, including single particle analysis and cryo-electron tomography, to the Northern Rocky Mountains. Instrumentation includes a 200 kV Talos Arctica with a Gatan K3 camera, 120 kV Tecnai Spirit, and a Vitrobot Mark IV. Collectively, these instruments allow imaging of biological structures at single nanometer to sub-nanometer resolutions, and thus enable 3D modeling of cells, viruses, proteins, nucleic acid, and other soft matter at the atomic level.

The Montana State Mass Spectrometry (MSMS) Facility provides instrumentation and methods for MS based research at MSU, external academics, and industry. The facility houses seven mass spectrometers that enable mass analysis of a range of analytes; e.g. volatiles and semi-volatiles, biomolecules, environmental contaminants, and elements.

Common applications performed include untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics, small molecule quantitation, and elemental compositional confirmation.

The facility has the following mass spectrometers:
-Waters Synapt-XS Q-IMS-TOF with Waters I-Class UHPLC
-Agilent 6538 Q-TOF with Agilent 1290 UHPLC
-Agilent 7800 Inductively Coupled Plasma with Laser Ablation (193 nm)
-Bruker micrOTOF with Agilent 1290 UHPLC
-Agilent 6490 Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer
-Bruker MALDI Autoflex
-Agilent GC-MS
-Waters Synapt G2S-i Q-TOF with Ion Mobility

The Animal Resources Center (ARC) is an AAALAC approved animal research facility, providing researchers with the opportunity to study a diverse number of animal species. ARC maintains animal housing rooms, observation rooms, and procedure rooms at BSL 1 and 2 containment levels. The ARC is supported by certified veterinarians and animal care technicians who provide technical support and veterinary care.

The Montana State University Research Cyberinfrastructure Core Facility (RCI) provides centralized support, systems, and services for IT specific to research. Systems and services include the areas of high-performance computing (HPC), virtual machine hosting, large scale storage, and high-performance networking and data transfer. In addition to support for these services, RCI provides MSU researchers with consulting on technology budgets and implementation for grants and support for IT components of major research instrumentation, software, and specialized or unique research technology needs.

The Cellular Analysis Core (CAC) provides access to functional, up-to-date equipment for flow cytometric analysis and cell sorting, histological samples preparation, and single cell RNA sequencing which is essential for all researchers in immunology, infectious disease, and cell biology and is highly useful for scientists in other related fields.

ICAL is a user-oriented facility that supports basic and applied research and education in all science, engineering, and STEM disciplines. The laboratory specializes in complementary surface, interfacial, and bulk characterization of materials via high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy. The lab promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between research, educational, and industrial fields.

The NMR facility is located on the first floor of the Chemistry and Biochemistry building in room 18on the MSU campus in Bozeman, MT. The facility provides both on-campus and off-campus industry/start-up researchers in the biological, chemical and physical sciences 24/7 open-access availability to state-of-the-art solution NMR spectroscopy instrumentation, training and sample preparation resources.The facility can be accessed individually or as a full service center. The NMR Facility has a total space of ~2,500 sq ft. divided among 3 rooms fully constructed with considerations for cooling, in-place floor dampening infrastructure and space for wet lab/sample preparation. The facility specializes in small molecule structure determination, small molecule characterization, biomolecular/protein structure determination, qualitative and quantitative NMR analysis, and small molecule purification from a wide variety of sample sources.

The MMF is a micro and nanofabrication facility that offers a range of processing and packaging capabilities including lithography, wet and dry etching, thin film deposition, dicing, wire bonding, metrology, and inspection.

Social Data Collection and Analysis Services (Social Data) is a facility at Montana State University that enables the collection of high-quality data for researchers employing a variety of social and behavioral methods. This facility provides tools necessary for researchers to study interactions between human systems and other complex phenomena like public health and ecosystems.

Our equipment and team support the entire workflow of all things geo-spatial from primary data collection using a suite of different sensors and platforms to sophisticated analysis that includes:

Advanced mapping and geo-spatial analysis that leverage Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or drone-based sensors that use LiDAR, hyperspectral, thermal, orthoimagery, & Structure from Motion
High precision mapping and analysis using GPS and GNSS
Acoustic Doppler Profiles of rivers, reservoirs, and lakes
Data visualization and cartography
Remote sensing using active and passive sensors
Geo-spatial analysis, data development, and management
High Performance Computing infrastructure that leverages all of the above using open source and proprietary software