This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Funds are provided to renovate research space in the Brown Hall Science building at East Tennessee State University. The proposed renovations will increase safety, security, and energy efficiency in the laboratories of a large number of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students in the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy. This aging building serves the instructional, research and research training purposes of these three departments, and much of the research conducted in the building occurs in space that was not originally designed for that purpose. The renovations will consolidate three faculty computer research laboratories and a number of instrument facilities in one part of the building. It will involve three components, namely, (1) consolidating computer research laboratories on the first floor of the south wing of the building and installing additional and isolated electrical circuits, additional HVAC equipment and appropriate temperature alarms, and emergency power for these, as well as for instrument rooms in the same part of the building; (2) reassignment of biology and chemistry research laboratories within the building and renovation to install needed facilities, such as fume hoods, controlled heating and lighting, and, where necessary, emergency power; and (3) upgrading of fume hoods and casework, including chemical-resistant countertops in a number of research laboratories. These improvements will contribute to the continued productivity of a minimum of 20 faculty members in the three departments, as well as their postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate research.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) carried out renovations of several research laboratories in Brown Hall, a 60-year-old building that houses the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy. The renovations have impacted a large number of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, allowing them to conduct their research in modern, safe, and energy-efficient facilities. The renovations comprised three components. The first involved consolidating computer research laboratories and instrument facilities in the lower level of the building and upgrading them through improved electrical circuits, additional HVAC equipment and appropriate temperature alarms, and by installing emergency power systems. The second component involved reassignment of biology and chemistry research laboratories within the building and renovation to install needed facilities, such as fume hoods, controlled heating and lighting, and, where necessary, emergency power. Finally, a number of other laboratories were upgraded through installation of fume hoods and casework, including chemical-resistant countertops. These renovations have had a major, positive impact on the productivity of research programs in a number of areas of biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy, as well as having a significant impact on the safety conditions in the building. ETSU is committed to graduate and undergraduate research, to programs designed to develop research capacity in math and science, and to math and science education and teacher preparation. These and individual research programs bring graduate and undergraduate students, and high school students and teachers into the university’s science research laboratories, and all of these groups have been or will be impacted positively by these renovations. Following the renovations, the numbers of undergraduate and graduate students involved in research activities in the affected laboratories increased by over 50%.
