About BEMF

The Biological Electron Microscope Facility (BEMF) at the University of Hawai’i is a multi-user/service facility, administered by the Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC), now part of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). The mission of the BEMF is to provide biological-biomedical researchers with state-of-the-art instrumentation, training and services for high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, optical, fluorescence, and confocal laser scanning microscopies, and image analysis on a recharge basis. The facility receives partial support from COBRE Grant MICRO Core, NIH/NIGMS P20GM125508; from the Pacific Biosciences Research Center; and the UH Manoa Chancellor’s Office.

Use of the Facility

BEMF is foremost a research instrumentation and service facility, open to state, university, and outside institutions. Instrument use and technician services are available on a recharge fee basis. We provide complete individual training for scanning electron microscopy, familiarization with instruments and techniques for experienced transmission electron microscopists and for researchers using fluorescence microscopy, and training for novices in TEM and fluorescence as time and resources permit. Clients can be trained in specimen preparation and to use the instruments themselves or can request assistance from the BEMF staff.

Use of instruments is charged on an hourly basis. Click here to get a list of current BEMF user fees.

About Us

The Biological Electron Microscope Facility at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UHM) is located 2400 miles over water from the next nearest research university. The BEMF was established in 1984 by PBRC under the direction of Dr. Richard D. Allen, and has since grown steadily in its instrumentation, expertise, and use.

In this facility research problems specific to the Pacific region include investigations in marine biology and oceanography, aquaculture diseases, settling and colonization by aquatic organisms, invertebrate sensory structures, tropical agriculture, detoxification in aquatic organisms, infectious diseases, and natural products chemistry. Since Hawaii has both the highest number of endemic species and the highest number of endangered and extinct species in the country, we also serve researchers of systematics, conservation, and evolutionary biology from UHM, Bishop Museum and other organizations. The benefits of our location include accessibility to marine organisms, proximity to other Pacific island communities and to eastern Asia, and the rich heritage of collaboration and cooperation among researchers in these communities. Instrument use and technician services are available on a recharge fee basis. Most of the instrumentation has been obtained with funding from the National Science Foundation biological instrumentation program, federal research grants, and University of Hawaii matching funds.