| NSF Org: |
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 4, 2021 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 4, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 2122771 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Reed Beaman
rsbeaman@nsf.gov (703)292-7163 DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2021 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $186,438.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $186,438.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 UNIVERSITY DR # 204 CULLOWHEE NC US 28723-9646 (828)227-3174 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
265 North Sixth Street Highlands NC US 28741-8473 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Capacity: Field Stations |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
Walk-in environmental rooms that provide precision control of temperature, relative humidity, and light have a great many applications in research and education. The twin 1980s-era environmental control chambers at Highlands Biological Station (HBS: highlandsbiological.org) have been real work-horses, supporting hundreds of studies on plants and animals over the years in many research areas, from behavior, ecology, and climate change to development, genetics, and physiology ? especially work with lungless salamanders, one of the most ecologically important animal groups in southern Appalachian forests and streams. In addition to research, these chambers have also supported class demonstrations and student research projects in HBS field courses. The chambers are now very dated, however, with aging plumbing, wiring, and analog controls that no longer function reliably, hampering research and other applications. This project will replace and upgrade the functionality of these chambers while also expanding capacity, adding a third walk-in environmental control room. The goal is both expanded capabilities and expanded capacity in order to support a broader range of applications in research, teaching, class projects, public programs, and demonstrations.
Working with leaders in the design and construction of precision scientific and industrial environmental control rooms, this project entails fabricating and installing 3 new chambers on the footprint of the old ones. The design realizes a net gain of over 16 square feet of working area and 215 cubic feet of conditioned space, reliably providing the precision temperature, relative humidity, light control and other capabilities needed by today's researchers and for instructional applications. The replacement chambers will also feature increased shelf space with interior electrical outlets to accommodate peripheral equipment such as video or grow lights, as well as remote-monitoring functionality so that HBS staff, researchers, and instructors can monitor chamber conditions via mobile device or desktop on a continuous basis.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Highlands Biological Station of Western Carolina University (HBS), located in the Southern Blue Ridge, has been a center of research, teaching, training, and public engagement since its founding in 1927. This region of especially rich biological diversity, thanks to rugged topography, high rainfall, and extensive forests, is an outstanding "natural classroom and laboratory" for a wide variety of scientific studies, courses, and programs on regional flora and fauna — historically with a special research focus on lungless (plethodontid) salamanders, an ancient and highly biodiverse group that is the dominant vertebrate predator by biomass in southern Appalachian ecosystems.
Supporting such work requires excellent facilities, from HBS research and teaching laboratories and classrooms to our community-facing natural history museum and high-elevation native plant botanical garden. This project enabled us to dramatically improve the single most important piece of equipment housed in the most important laboratory at HBS, the Coker Laboratory, namely replacing a pair of obsolete and failing walk-in environmental chambers with 3 state-of-the-art walk-in units that allow precision control of temperature, humidity, and light. The old units were workhorses of the field station, heavily used for research and teaching since their installation in the 1980s. The new chambers did not simply restore capacity that was lost, but with a third unit and new features they considerably expanded capacity for research, teaching, and training at HBS.
Over the course of this project the obsolete chamber units were properly dismantled and relevant parts recycled, after which the electrical infrastructure of the laboratory building was upgraded to handle the necessary capacity for the new chambers. The new units, custom designed to fit the laboratory space and operate within the desired parameters, were assembled on site by a team of technicians and others representing a collaboration between the manufacturer, university facilities personnel, electrical engineers, local electricians, and the North Carolina State Construction Office.
The new chambers represent a two-fold improvement: expanded equipment capacity and functionality, which will open the door to new research, teaching, STEM training, and public engagement opportunities at HBS. From research applications to uses in undergraduate and graduate teaching & training courses, and from public demonstrations to projects with STEM educational partners with local schools, the new precision environmental control chambers made possible by this NSF grant helped bring a vital piece of research and teaching infrastructure at HBS into the 21st century, in turn advancing science and science education broadly as well as public science outreach for local communities.
Last Modified: 08/27/2024
Modified by: James T Costa
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