Grant funds ecological laboratory

By the end of this academic year, Pitt will utilize a $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to expand the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. 

On Aug. 8, a ceremony at the laboratory’s location in Linesville, Pa., celebrated the commencement of building construction. University funding will also supplement the NSF grant to create a lab facility estimated to cost $1.2 million. The 3,600 square-foot addition is expected to be completed by April 2014.

The lab, run by Pitt’s Department of Biological Sciences, aims to transform what hands-on laboratory work means for students at the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, as well as for students grades K-12 in the Pittsburgh area. 

Rick Relyea, a professor of biological sciences and the director of the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, called the grant from NSF a tremendous opportunity.

“This new laboratory allows a dramatic increase in research capabilities,” Relyea said. “[It] will provide additional research opportunities for undergraduates working in research labs and for undergraduates taking biology and environmental courses at the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology.”

Relyea also said that during the fall and winter months when the lab is not as occupied by University students and researchers, the space will be available to K-12 children, allowing “students [to] visit PLE and learn how to do science in the setting of a state-of-the-art research laboratory.”

PLE expects the new facility to attract researchers worldwide. Though specific projects for the lab are yet to be determined, a new sterile lab area is projected to be a hot spot for endeavors in molecular and microbial biology. There will also be an area for wildlife study, specifically targeted at the study of birds.

Pitt now offers 11 to 12 courses at PLE as compared to only seven or eight in 2007. According to Relyea, students have told him that the hands-on courses taught at PLE were some of their favorites in all of their time at Pitt.

On the banks of Pymatuming Lake, PLE offers students an opportunity for hands-on learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Students have the chance to study fields ranging from wetland and forest ecology to ecotoxicology and human genetics. With the NSF award, PLE will have the chance to expand three of its largest lab areas and improve on the renovations it has completed over the past five years. 

Dick Howe, associate dean for administration of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, said the grant is an important accomplishment for the school because such awards are highly competitive.  

“The Dietrich School is delighted to partner with NSF on this joint venture that will make our Pymatuning facility even more productive and better suited to serve our students along with high school students and teachers within Pennsylvania’s northwestern region,” Howe said in a University press release from July.