SEMINAR: X-ray microscopy: A powerful research tool for imaging, analysis and visualisation

The Seminar: Imagine a technique that requires minimal or no sample preparation and allows you to explore the internal structure of your sample down to the micrometre scale without the need for a single cut. This can be achieved using X-ray microscopy (XRM), which, as for medical CAT scanners, uses the penetrative power of X-rays to “non-destructively” image through materials. The data generated by an XRM is converted to a digital format that can be investigated in almost limitless ways. The technique is highly flexible, with wide ranging applications in biological, geological and materials science, but can easily be applied to hard and soft tissue imaging. The Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis (CMCA) at UWA has two X-ray imaging systems and this seminar will cover the basics of the XRM technique, its applicability to anatomical studies, and a number of gratuitously pretty videos of objects imaged by XRM.

The Speaker: Dr Jeremy Shaw is the X-ray microscopy technique group leader at the CMCA and also specialises in the application of electron microscopy in biology. With roots in marine science and the study of biomineral formation in marine molluscs, Dr Shaw has recently turned his attention to insects and holds an ARC DECRA Fellowship aimed at unravelling the biological basis of magnetoreception in honey bees.