The Department of Biology at the University of New Mexico is on the threshold of an historic advancement in the development of scientific team-approaches to multi-disciplinary, complex biological problems. Over the last decade, faculty researchers have developed strategies to address complicated environmental and biological problems at local, regional, and national levels. Having fostered an atmosphere for collaborative studies, as evidenced by the successes of the Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research Program (LTER), and the Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB), the dispersal of researchers and students over three buildings has prevented the Department from benefiting from new advances. The National Science Foundation and the University of New Mexico will establish a partnership to provide a state-of-the-art research center in ecology, evolution and systematics. Funds from the Academic Research Infrastructure Program and the State will be used to renovate space needed to create a multi-disciplinary program that consolidates the specimen-based research materials of the MSB with the ecologically based data of the LTER program. In conjunction to providing the necessary infrastructure, the facility will conform to ADA, fire and OSHA standards. A freezer room, fume hoods, and cabinetry will be installed in the renovated laboratories. Upon completion, the renovated facility will merge programs within a single building, thus raising the capabilities of the biology research group to a level that will permit and promote highly sophisticated, integrated analyses of complex problems by collaborating teams of scientists. The facility will be a major asset to the department's research training programs, which includes an NSF Research Training Grant in Ecological Complexity, a Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site Program, and an Undergraduate Mentorships in Environmental Biology Program for minority students.
