Perspectives On Line: The Magazine of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

NC State University

 Summer 2004Home From the Dean

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Undergraduate Science Teaching Laboratory dedicated

Dr. Johnny Wynne (left) and Dr. Daniel Solomon unveil a commemorative plaque at the USTL. Later, the N.C. State Board of Trustees announced that the USTL will be named the Marye Anne Fox Science Teaching Laboratory in honor of the departing chancellor.

Ornate letter "O"n June 1, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Interim Dean Johnny C. Wynne joined Dean Daniel L. Solomon of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in dedicating the new Undergraduate Science Teaching Laboratory on the N.C. State University campus. The 100,000-square-foot facility was built on the site of the old CALS greenhouses, on Brooks Avenue at Yarborough Drive.

“The USTL is a gateway through which our students will enter the world of scientific discovery,” said university Chancellor Marye Anne Fox at the ceremonies dedicating the facility, which provides learning space for more than 5,000 chemistry and physics students and hundreds of students in its state-of-the-art greenhouse complex.

Replacing outdated laboratory facilities such as Withers Hall, the $30 million USTL was funded through the $3.1 billion University and Community College Bond Referendum approved in 2000. It opened for classes in the spring 2004 semester.

The USTL includes seven undergraduate physics teaching labs and 14 undergraduate chemistry labs, along with lab instrument and prep rooms, classrooms and tutorial areas, as well as 25,000 square feet of greenhouse space. “Many agriculture and life sciences students will have an opportunity to learn and study in the chemistry and physics classrooms and laboratories of the Undergraduate Science Teaching Laboratory building,” Wynne said. “But they will also benefit from the greenhouse complex that replaces the 1950s-era greenhouses we had.”

The complex includes the fully automated greenhouses, a head house, wet lab and a 50-seat classroom for use by students in horticultural science, entomology, plant pathology, crop science and soil science. “These students will now study in modern, automated facilities that are similar to those they will encounter should they enter a career in our commercial greenhouse and nursery industries,” Wynne said.

In addition to these teaching facilities, there are new off-site research greenhouses that replace those taken down to make way for the USTL. “These new greenhouses — 16,000 square feet of space at Method Road and 20,000 square feet at the Horticulture Field Laboratory — are integral to research efforts that will enable us to offer information on plant disease, insect and other production challenges to the industry,” Wynne said.

Nearby, work is proceeding on Phase II of the USTL, which will help the College address fast growth in the areas of zoology and biological sciences.

“We are proud in the College of Agriculture and Life sciences to have a long history of serving our state’s producers in ways that help build our economy and enhance our environment,” said Wynne. “The greenhouse complexes and the Undergraduate Science Teaching Laboratory, phases I and II, will be important tools in ensuring that this tradition is continued through quality teaching, research and extension programs.”

—Terri Leith