The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) is the oldest cold-water marine laboratory in the eastern United States, annually providing facilities for between 40 to 50 research programs ranging from the comparative physiology and biochemistry of osmoregulation and renal and epithelial transport in vertebrates and invertebrates to endocrinology, developmental and molecular biology. Scientists throughout the world apply to work at the MDIBL; acceptance is competitive. This project provides matching funds for the renovation of a sixty-seven year old building, the H. V. Neal Laboratory. Although continuously used for decades by researchers, including some of the MDIBL's most illustrious summer scientists, the Neal building no longer provides an adequate laboratory environment for modern electrophysiological, biochemical and molecular biology research. Plans call for modernizing the building to provide climate- controlled research space with vibration-free floors. The interior of the building will be modified to provide both laboratory and work space on two floors by the removal of present interior partitions and the lowering of the first-floor ceiling. Electrical service, lighting and plumbing also will be upgraded. The exterior siding of the building, unchanged since original construction, will be replaced. A new entrance will provide access for handicapped persons. Renovation of the Neal Laboratory will increase by two-fold the area of temperature- controlled modern space for state-of-the-art research at the MDIBL.
