FSML: Facilities Improvement at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies

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This project will assist in the construction of an additional laboratory building at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (IES). The new building will address current and future research needs of IES, providing its scientists adequate laboratory space and enabling more students, postdocs, and visiting scientists to do research at IES.The current laboratory facilities at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (IES) are inadequate as IES strives to meet the increased demands for essentials analyses and for research laboratory space. During the last ten years, the demand for IES's central Analytical Laboratory services has ballooned from ~ 10,000 analyses per year to~ 60,000. At the same time, several IES scientists must share existing individual laboratory space, limiting the number of students, postdocs, and visiting scientists able to do research in their laboratories.Scientific collaboration, both among IES scientists and with scientists at other institutions, is a hallmark of IES. This collaborative philosophy extends into the distribution of PI laboratory space and analytical resources. IES encourages the sharing of resources; unnecessary duplication of equipment and space is discouraged. To that end, IES has a central Analytical Laboratory (A.L). The AL is a resource for IES scientific staff, students, visitors, and distant collaborators, providing data critical to their scientific research. AL staff analyzes samples not only from sites at IES, but also from sites around the world.As research programs have expanded, IES scientists have increasingly needed to share their PI laboratories as well. While these scientists strive to open their lab space to visiting scientists, postdoctoral associates, and graduate and undergraduate students, laboratory space is now the limiting factor in IES's ability to meet new demands and explore new opportunities.The new laboratory building will provide carefully designed research space and a hospitable, safe, functional, and highly efficient workplace for maximum interaction and collaboration. The new facility will ease unacceptable crowding and allow IES to accommodate its expanding visiting scientist, postdoctoral, and graduate and undergraduate student programs. The design allows for a doubling in size of the laboratory building should program needs dictate in the future.