Modernization of Research Laboratory Space at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该项目包括通过建造一座新的实验室大楼来改造现有的生物野外站，以取代目前由两座现有建筑提供的设施，Murray实验室，一个预制的原木结构，和Willey实验室。建造一座替代建筑物比翻新现有建筑物更具成本效益。新建筑将提供与被取代的两栋建筑相同数量的研究空间。落基山生物实验室是一个独立的非营利性研究组织，主要由科罗拉多州哥特的一个生物野外站组成。RMBL管理着1300英亩的私人土地，并拥有科学家在邻近数百万英亩的公共土地上工作的许可证。2009年，33名终身科学家（或同等学历）、4名博士后科学家、18名研究生、1名技术员、3名教师和60名本科生研究人员使用了本项目将升级的实验室空间。将从改造中受益的研究项目类型的例子包括：植物直接和间接排放的气溶胶在云形成中的作用；非生物因子和生物因子（如土壤氮循环）如何相互作用影响生态系统的结构和功能，以及气候变化、物种入侵和草食等自然干扰和人为影响如何塑造这些相互作用；对气候变化的生物响应研究，如植物和动物物候、丰度和气候如何在一个地点相互关联，植物开花日期和融雪之间的关系是否随时间而变化，以及山地群落如何应对气候变化；内共生体（真菌）是否增加宿主（非本地草种）丰度及其影响宿主丰度的机制；以及在世界各地盛开的双硅藻（Didymosphenia geminata）正在引起生态系统结构和溪流功能的制度转变的程度。即将翻新的设施为来自不同机构的科学家提供研究基础设施。它的研究季节为大量的本科生和研究生提供了研究训练。学院与一所西班牙裔社区学院建立了密切的合作关系，帮助社区学院的学生进入学院的项目。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The project involves the renovation of an existing biological field station through the construction of a new laboratory building to replace the facilities currently provided by two existing buildings, the Murray Lab, a pre-fabricated log structure, and the Willey Lab. It will be more cost-effective to construct a replacement building than to refurbish the existing structures. The new building will provide the same amount of research space as is present in the two buildings being replaced.The Rocky Mountain Biological Lab is an independent, non-profit research organization that mainly consists of a biological field station in Gothic, Colorado. RMBL manages 1300 acres of private land and has a permit for scientists to work in the millions of acres of adjacent public lands. In 2009, 33 tenure-track scientists (or equivalent), four postdoctoral scientists, 18 graduate students, one technician, three teachers, and 60 undergraduate researchers used the laboratory spaces that will be upgraded by this project. Examples of the type of research projects that will benefit from the renovation include: the role in cloud formation of aerosols emitted directly and indirectly by plants; how abiotic and biotic factors, such as nitrogen cycling in soils, interact to affect ecosystem structure and function and how natural disturbances and anthropogenic impacts such as climate change, species invasions, and herbivory shape these interactions; studies of biological responses to climate change, such as how plant and animal phenology, abundance, and climate are interrelated at a single site, whether the relationship between plant flowering dates and snowmelt is changing over time, and how montane communities respond to climate change; whether endosymbionts (fungi) increase host (non-native grass species) abundance and the mechanisms by which they affect host abundance; and the degree to which the diatom Didymosphenia geminata, which is blooming around the world, is causing a regime shift in the ecosystem structure and functioning of streams.The facility to be renovated provides research infrastructure that supports scientists from a diverse range of institutions. Its research season provides research training for a significant number of undergraduate and graduate students. RMBL has a strong relationship with an Hispanic-serving community college that helps bring community college students into RMBL programs.