Construction of Multi-user Facility at the Southwestern Research Station

该奖项支持建设一个新的1200平方米。英尺（约111.5平方米）多用户设施，配备太阳能电池板和八台计算机，将提供一个综合信息技术支持系统，以加强美国自然历史博物馆西南研究站（SWRS）的研究和教育基础设施。新设施将包括960平方米。240平方英尺的教室空间和240平方英尺的教室空间。英尺的存储空间，用于研究和教学设备。该设施将提高SWRS容纳现有和拟议课程和讲习班的能力。 它还将加强在西南RS进行研究的科学家和学生的活动，同时促进西南RS的“绿色”建筑实践。该设施将使课程和研讨会的空间增加一倍，并将为来访的学生和教师提供高速互联网服务。新设施将使SWRS能够改善和扩大其作为生物研究和教育的领先中心的作用，为来自全国和世界各地的科学家和教育工作者提供服务。除其他用途外，拟议的设施将为新近为研究人员和资源管理人员开办的应用地理信息系统和遥感讲习班提供空间。 现在已经有50年的历史了，这个位于亚利桑那州波特尔的空间站已经为生物学家、地质学家和人类学家提供了服务，他们对研究亚利桑那州东南部奇里卡瓦山脉的多样环境和生物群感兴趣。在过去十年中，SWRS的使用显著增加，主要是由于SWRS举办的课程和讲习班数量不断增加，以及住房和餐饮设施的相应增加。目前，SWRS的使用受限于本科生和研究生课程、讲习班、会议和研讨会的可用空间，以及在任何给定时间由多达60名研究人员及其助手共享的少量计算机。该合同将满足对新基础设施的关键需求，这是由于对使用该设施的兴趣日益增长而产生的。

This award supports construction of a new 1200 sq. ft. (~ 111.5 m2) multi-user facility equipped solar panels and eight computers that will provide an integrated IT support system to enhance infrastructure for research and education at the Southwestern Research Station (SWRS) of the American Museum of Natural History. The new facility will include 960 sq. feet of classroom space and 240 sq. feet of storage space for equipment used in research and instruction. The facility will increase the ability of the SWRS to accommodate existing and proposed courses and workshops. It will also enhance the activities of scientists and students that conduct research at the SWRS while promoting "green" building practices at the SWRS. The facility will double the space available for courses and workshops, and will provide visiting students and faculty access to computers with high speed internet service. The new facility will allow the SWRS to improve and expand its role as a leading center for biological research and education for scientists and educators from institutions across the country and around the world. Among other uses, the proposed facility will provide space for newly developed workshops in applied GIS and remote sensing for researchers and resource managers. Now fifty years old, the station, which is located in Portal, Arizona, has served biologists, geologists, and anthropologists interested in studying the diverse environments and biota of the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. Use of the SWRS has grown significantly over the past decade, largely due to the growing number of courses and workshops held at SWRS and concomitant increase in housing and dining facilities. Currently, use of the SWRS is limited by the availability of space for undergraduate and graduate courses, workshops, meetings, and seminars, and by the small number of computers that are shared by up to 60 researchers and their assistants at any given time. This award will meet the critical need for new infrastructure that has resulted from the growing interest in use of the facility.