Bo Zhao

Bo Zhao
Assistant Director 
Geosciences 

Bo joined Texas Tech during a period of significant transition in the provision of research and teaching support to graduate students and researchers seeking to use optical and electron microscopy techniques. Bo was employed with the remit of providing day-to-day oversight and maintenance of existing equipment, to develop relationships with existing and new facility users, to begin the process of re-building institutional knowledge, and wherever possible to begin expanding the range and number of experimental techniques that may be accessed through the facility. Over the course of 5 years, the electron microscopy user group expanded to include over 30 research laboratories with more than100 users. Protocols for a variety of new techniques and applications were introduced, with the availability and impact of these opportunities being showcased by Bo directly engaging with the research community, reaching out to individual principal investigators, and promoting the capacity of the microscopy facility to enhance research outcomes by contributing to teaching activities in either scheduled graduate courses, or ad hoc demonstrations. We have seen Bo's efforts reflected in a further expansion of the user-group, in terms of research laboratories that are utilizing services, and in the number of individual users. This tremendous growth is due to Bo's commitment to excellence.