Life Science South Infrastructure Renovation

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9414871 Robertson Research laboratories within the South Wing of the seventy -year old Life Sciences building at the University of Idaho will be renovated with the support of NSF funds. The renovation will develop four modern labmratories to meet the modern needs of scientists in the Departments of Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (MMBB) and Biological Sciences. The project will address major existing problems with temperature control, dust and mold contamination, ventilation system noise, antiquated laboratory furnishings, major deficiencies in electrical and plumbing services, negative air pressure, and inefficient design of laboratory space. The laboratories, constructed in 1924, have not been renovated for 26 years and several contain the original laboratory furnishings. Molecular techniques will be emphasized in the laboratory for plant systematics and also for vertebrate biology -- both within the department of biological sciences. A third laboratory in Biological Sciences is dedicated to cell physiology. The structural characterization of proteins will be studied in the renovated Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry space.The University of Idaho programs have grown considerably over the last decade. MMBB has twelve faculty; ten of whom faculty have been hired since 1986. Productivity in the department has increased significantly and led to development of a new undergraduate major in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Fifty graduate students are enrolled in departmental programs and nineteen undergraduates worked on research projects during the 1994 academic year. A similar impact will be felt in Biological Sciences which has nineteen faculty, 27 graduate students and five postdoctorals. Twenty undergraduates were involved in research studies during 1994. The programs emphasize recruitment and retention of students representing both genders, all ethnic groups, and the physically challenged.