Funds are requested to renovate laboratories in cell and molecular biology and biochemistry in the Department of Biological Sciences. These laboratories serve as training and central facilities for researchers, students, and collaborators. This modernization will enhance training programs at all levels. On the undergraduate level, Lehman college is striving to establish first rate training programs for bright minority students through active participation in federally funded programs designed to propel them into scientific research careers. The improved facilities should enable the Department to attract more such students and, especially, to keep minority students in the pipeline leading to advanced degrees. On the graduate level, Master's and Doctoral programs in biology, particularly the plant sciences program, will benefit from up-to-date facilities. With a dwindling group of botanically oriented departments nationwide, CUNY's plant sciences doctoral program, in collaboration with the New York Botanical Garden will have the capacity to engage in more sophisticated experimental research.
