FSML: Expansion of Laboratory Facilities at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Field Station

威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校的James Reinartz博士、Peter Dunn博士、Jeffrey Karron博士、Gretchen Meyer博士和Linda Whittingham博士获得了一笔赠款，用于扩大野外研究站的实验室设施。UWM野外研究站是一个富有成效的研究场所，并积极用于教学。自1970年成立以来，该站发表了190多篇科学出版物和111篇研究生论文。仅在过去的5年里，来自28个机构的94名不同的科学家就利用该科考站进行了108个研究项目。超过15所不同的大学经常使用实地研究站来教授各种各样的课程，在过去的五年中，实地研究站平均每年有5到6个本科生独立研究项目。此外，实地站每年举办讲习班/短期课程方案。这些课程提供大学水平的自然历史重点主题指导，并可通过UWM获得高级本科/研究生学分。在过去五年中，该站举办了34个短期课程，向大约680名学生提供指导。实地站也有一个积极的外展方案，为团体和公众提供许多教育机会。UWM现场站有一个为期六年的计划，分为三个阶段进行设施改进项目，以适应其现有的使用和适度的计划增长。计划中的设施扩建包括：1)对空间站的两层实验室/办公楼进行小型扩建，并对现有建筑进行改造；2)对实验楼进行更大的单层扩建；3)建造新的睡眠区。这笔拨款将资助项目的第一阶段：在两层实验室/办公楼的基础上增加1280平方英尺，并对现有建筑进行改造。这些第一阶段的改进将增加两个研究室：一个房间用于存放由实地站维护的生物收藏品，该房间还将提供实验室空间和一个300英尺2的研究实验室。该项目还将增加一个490平方英尺的实验室，可用于教学。研究和教学实验室将包括水槽和通风柜。此外，目前的实验室/办公楼的地下室不是残疾人无障碍的，建筑物缺乏残疾人无障碍浴室；这些缺陷将在改造中得到弥补。这笔赠款将大大提高UWM现场站支持研究使用和保持其高质量教学的能力。新研究室的建设将使研究人员可以使用的实验室空间从一个增加到三个，而不会中断设备的教学使用。在该站进行的广泛多样的研究已经大大有助于获得关于该站动植物群落、土壤、水文和地质的基线信息，该站的长期数据库发展计划也是如此。实验室设施的扩大将使这些富有成效的研究项目能够继续进行，减少空间冲突，并将使该地点对更多的研究人员更具吸引力。这笔拨款还将增加一个带有水槽和通风柜的专用教学实验室，这将允许扩展讲习班/短期课程计划，并允许威斯康星大学和其他大学的课程更多地使用该站。总之，新的实验室和教学空间将大大提高野外研究站的研究效率，并使更多的学生有机会在野外研究站学习自然历史和其他主题。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. James Reinartz, Dr. Peter Dunn, Dr. Jeffrey Karron, Dr. Gretchen Meyer, and Dr. Linda Whittingham at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee to expand the laboratory facilities at the Field Station. The UWM Field Station is a productive research site and is actively used for teaching. Since the Field Station was established in 1970, it has produced over 190 scientific publications and 111 graduate student dissertations. In the past five years alone, the Field Station has been used for 108 research projects by 94 different scientists from 28 institutions. More than 15 different universities regularly use the Field Station for instruction in a wide variety of courses, and the Station has averaged between 5 and 6 undergraduate independent study projects annually in the past five years. In addition, the Field Station conducts a workshop/short course program each year. These courses offer college level instruction on focused topics in natural history, and are available for advanced undergraduate/graduate credit through UWM. In the past five years, 34 short courses providing instruction to approximately 680 students have been held at the Station. The Field Station also has an active outreach program offering many educational opportunities to groups and the general public. The UWM Field Station has a six-year plan for a three-phase facilities improvement project that will accommodate its existing use and a modest level of projected growth in programs. The planned expansion of facilities includes: 1) a small addition to the Station's two-story lab/office building and remodeling of the existing building, 2) a larger, single-story addition to the lab building, and 3) construction of new sleeping quarters. This grant will fund the first phase of the project: a 1,280 gross ft 2 addition to the two-story lab/office building and a remodeling of the existing building. These first-phase improvements will add two research rooms: a room to house the biological collections maintained by the Field Station that will also provide lab space and one 300 ft 2 research lab. This project will also add a 490 ft 2 lab that can be dedicated for teaching use. The research and teaching labs will include sinks and fume hoods. In addition, the basement of the current lab/office building is not handicapped-accessible and the building lacks handicapped-accessible bathrooms; these deficiencies will be remedied in the remodelling. This grant will greatly increase the UWM Field Station's ability to support research use and to maintain its high quality of instruction. The construction of new research rooms will increase from one to three the number of lab spaces that can be used by researchers without interruption from teaching use of the facility. The wide diversity of research conducted at the site has already contributed greatly to the baseline information available on the Station's plant and animal communities, soils, hydrology, and geology, as has the Station's long-term data base development program. Expansion of the laboratory facilities will allow these productive research projects to continue with fewer conflicts over space, and will make the site more attractive to additional researchers. This grant will also add a dedicated teaching lab with a sink and fume hood, which will allow expansion of the workshop/short course program and greater use of the station by courses from UWM and other universities. In sum, new laboratory and teaching space will greatly increase the Field Station's research productivity and give more students the opportunity to study natural history and other topics at the Field Station.