FSML: Renovation of SWRS Main House to Provide a Lecture/ Meeting Room and to Enlarge/Enhance the Dining Room

美国自然历史博物馆（AMNH）的西南研究站（SWRS）成立于1955年，位于亚利桑那州东南部。在那里，它为来自众多美国和国际机构的野外生物学家提供了一个现代化的研究设施，可以接触到广泛的生物群落。该站的主要目标是为科学家、研究生、本科课程、科学会议和讲习班的活动提供住宿和科学支持。SWRS多年来取得的机构成功的一个衡量标准是该站产生的科学成果，在同行评审期刊上发表了900多篇论文。SWRS的主楼包括一个餐厅，科学家、学生和工作人员在这里用餐和交流想法，还有一个休息室/演讲室，在那里进行科学报告、课程等。目前的设施很小，而且过于拥挤，这妨碍了它很好地履行这些职能的能力。该项目所包含的改造旨在1)缓解SWRS能力的设施瓶颈，以显著改善来自全国各地的科学家和学生之间利用该站进行知识交流的环境；2)提高该站作为区域、国家和国际科学会议和研讨会的会议场所的能力。因此，拟议的建筑改造将加强利用该站的所有科学家和学生的活动。主楼的变化将把餐厅的座位从62个扩大到82个，并将改善其声学效果，休息室/演讲厅（目前的容量为30个）将扩大到一个可容纳100人的演讲厅设施。这个现代化的餐厅是空间站上所有人用餐的地方，它将为科学家、研究生、本科生SWRS志愿者、大学本科生、会议和研讨会参与者以及博物学家之间的思想交流提供一个有利的环境。报告厅将(1)继续履行其作为休息室/休闲会议区域的作用，(2)提供足够的空间（目前非常拥挤），为空间站居民定期举办的40多个研讨会提供空间，(3)为来空间站开会、研讨会和静修的大型科学家团体提供会议区域。额外的能力将使SWRS能够改善和扩大其作为西南地区领先的国家生物研究和教育中心的作用。通过促进访问科学家之间的进一步合作，并将研究活动和成果纳入非正式和正式教育计划，将对该站的研究质量产生积极影响。

The Southwestern Research Station (SWRS) of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) was established in 1955 and is located in southeastern Arizona. There it offers field biologists, from numerous U.S. and international institutions, a modern research facility with access to a wide range of biological communities. The primary objective of the Station is to provide accommodations and scientific to support the activities of scientists, graduate students, undergraduate courses, scientific meetings, and workshops. One measure of institutional success the SWRS has achieved over the years is the body of scientific generated at the Station, over 900 publications in peer review journals. The main House building at the SWRS contains a dining room, where scientists, students, and staff share meals and exchange ideas, and a lounge/lecture room where scientific presentations, classes, etc. occur. The current facility is small and overcrowded, which impedes its ability to serve these functions well. The renovations encompassed by this project are aimed at 1) alleviating a facilities bottleneck in the ability of the SWRS to significantly improve the environment for the intellectual exchanges between the scientists and students utilizing the Station from across the country, and 2) increasing the ability of the Station to serve as a meeting site for regional, national, and international scientific meetings and workshops. Thus, the proposed building renovation will enhance the activities of all scientists and students utilizing the Station. Changes in the Main House will expand the seating capacity of the dining room from 62 to 82 and will improve its acoustics, and the lounge/lecture room (current capacity 30) will be enlarged to become a lecture hall facility that will have seating capacity for 100 people. The modernized dining room, where everyone at the Station eats, will have an environment conducive to the exchange of ideas between established scientists, graduate students, undergraduate SWRS volunteers, undergraduates in university classes, meeting and workshop participants, and naturalists. The lecture hall will (1) continue to fulfill its role as a lounge/casual meeting area, (2) afford ample space (currently extremely crowded) for the 40+/- seminars held on a regular basis by and for residents at the Station, and (3) provide a meeting area for larger groups of scientists coming to the Station for meetings, workshops, and retreats. The additional capacity will allow the SWRS to improve and expand its role as a leading national center for biological research and education in the Southwest. The positive impact on the quality of research at the Station will come about through conditions that promote additional collaborations between visiting scientists, and b integrating the research activities and results into the informal and formal education programs.