The University of Colorado's Mountain Research Station is one of the nation's outstanding biological laboratories. The facility supports research in biology, geology, geography and climatology. It is both a national resource used extensively by researchers from a variety of agencies and institutions and an important asset to the faculty and graduate students of the institutes and departments of the University of Colorado. Since its beginning in 1914 the Station has added signifcantly to man's understanding of biological and physical processes in the alpine environment. The Station served as a major site for the International Biological Program, and is now a Long-term Ecological Research site for the National Science Foundation. An extensive data base has resulted from these and other programs, including the Mountain Climate Program that the Station has operated continuously since 1952. The project provides funding to purchase, install, and equip a pre-formed modular laboratory building. The building will be installed at 3,540 m on the alpine tundra of Niwot Ridge, site of the Niwot Ridge Long-term Ecological Research program. The Tundra Laboratory will facilitate research in the Niwot Ridge area by providing shelter for researchers and instruments from the alpine climate. It will provide a refuge from the frequent summer electrical storms, hail, cold winter temperatures, and extreme winds that characterize the Niwot Ridge weather. It will make possible a variety of types of research that are not currently feasible. The Tundra Laboratory will be solar heated, highly insulated, and equipped with photovoltaic system to provide electrical power. It will support research in biology, geology, and climatology.
