Improvement of Facilities for Faculty-Student Collaborative Research

Mary Baldwin College, Staunton VA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Mary Baldwin College is the largest college primarily for women in Virginia. Mary Baldwin College was founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary. The James D. Pearce Science Center was conceived in the late 1960s to embody a new, hands-on, research-based approach to undergraduate science education. Pearce is the college's only building devoted to the natural sciences. With only minor modifications since it opened in 1970, the building has long since become scientifically, technologically, and functionally outmoded, making it increasingly difficult for faculty to carry out sustained research programs. Funds are provided to renovate parts of the Pearce Science Center into a state of the art collaborative research training environment, transforming the four-story, 46,000-square foot building into an interactive space that supports an emphasis on faculty-student research on campus and synergistic work with nearby larger institutions. The renovations will support research in two interdisciplinary nodes: Neuroscience and Cell Signaling and Environmental Systems Monitoring. The renovated space will provide access to instrumentation by multiple users across disciplines, and provide senior thesis research with greater visibility and prominence. The HVAC systems will be upgraded to meet current ventilation and air quality standards; electrical systems to provide improved, energy efficient lighting and adequate power for equipment; built-in casework and hoods to meet current standards of efficiency and utility; and technological infrastructure to provide modern networking capabilities. It will provide access for a growing cohort of young female scientists, including a significant percentage of women of color, to next-generation research approaches and instrumentation.