Revitalizing
Laboratory Remodels Rejuvenate Gale Life Sciences Building and Gives A Taste of What’s to Come
Michael Thomas, 糖心传媒 biological sciences chair, is excited, to put it mildly, about the $1.8-million remodel of five laboratory spaces in the Gale Life Sciences Building
鈥淭hey are gorgeous, just awesome,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e beautiful. They are really, really sweet.鈥�
The remodels were done last summer and the students began using them fall 2017. The remodeled labs, including anatomy and physiology, general ecology, cell biology and neurobiology facilities, serve more than 1,200 students per year. The labs serve at least 13 different ISU programs, including a variety of biological sciences programs and Kasiska Division of Health Sciences programs including the nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy/occupational therapy, pharmacy, medical laboratory science and the 糖心传媒 Dental Education Program.
鈥淭op to bottom, the remodels have made the facilities so much nicer,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淚t helps teaching because it is much more of a cleaner, organized space designed for a specific use. The new facilities have also been huge for recruiting.鈥�
The remodels were from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with pretty much everything ripped out and replaced.
鈥淚n the basement, that included digging up the concrete floor and moving around plumbing,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淚n all spaces, ceilings came down and HVAC was replaced. It was four rooms totally rebuilt.鈥�
The laboratory remodels also serve as a preview of the $12 million remodel of the Gale Life Sciences Building that will occur over the next five or six years.
鈥淭hese laboratories will be used as a design template for the remodel of the rest of the building,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淢ost of what will be remodeled is research space, not so much teaching space, but these remodels will be a template for what is to come.鈥�
Jason Adams, ISU director of design and construction for ISU Facilities Services, said he was also pleased with the remodels.
鈥淭he project was an absolute success,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淭he spaces were beautifully designed by the architects and make a big visual improvement to the interior of the building.鈥�
Planners were concerned with the project鈥檚 construction timeframe because all the work need to be completed over the summer of 2017, before the fall 2017 semester was supposed to begin.
The project was an absolute success. The spaces were beautifully designed by the architects and make a big visual improvement to the interior of the building.
鈥� Jason Adams,
director of design and construction
ISU Facilities Services
鈥淭he contractor, Starr Corporation, did a great job streamlining their work and coordinating with the University to make this happen,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淚n fact, they were able to have the spaces ready for occupancy several weeks early.鈥�
Gale Life Sciences Building laboratory remodels included a complete gut and remodel of the labs located in rooms 153, 243, 247 and 261 and asbestos abatement of the floors and within the ceiling space. The labs also were upgraded with new flooring, tables and lab benches, ceilings with LED lighting, new plumbing fixtures, fume hoods and cabinets along the walls. New heating, ventilation and cooling equipment was installed to serve additional rooms.
Other Gale Life Sciences Building laboratory remodeling highlights include:
Anatomy and physiology laboratories, including Rooms 247, 250 and 271
Room 247 is used to teach an anatomy physiology lab covering the musculoskeletal and nervous systems for more than 400 students per semester and an A&P lab covering cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and digestive systems for more than 350 students per semester.
鈥淭his is an excellent facility,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淥ur new lecturer Shannon Curran, and another lecturer Katrina Rhett, who have been gross anatomy teachers at other universities, say this really is a world-class facility. We鈥檙e lucky to have it.鈥�
The remodel included knocking out a wall and increasing the number of cadaver or donor stations from eight to 10, adding a new lighting setup and air diffuser, for better ventilation, at each station. Large screens in the room allow teachers in the Pocatello A&P labs to talk to 30 students in Pocatello and at the Sam and Aline Skaggs Health Science Center at 糖心传媒-Meridian simultaneously, and images can be broadcast the opposite direction, too. Eventually, a camera system will be set up in this lab to allow instructors to broadcast images on screen from a donor, so students don鈥檛 have to crowd around one station to have the instructor point something out.
Room 250, which houses the existing cadaver lab was expanded by 250 square feet to provide two additional teaching stations.
Room 271, which houses an Anatomage Table and is across the hall from the anatomy suite, can be used for virtual dissections and has had high-resolution, 鈥�4k鈥� screens installed so images from the Anatomage Table or from other sources can be displayed to students.
鈥淪tudents go back and forth from the anatomy donor suite and may be working on an actual donor (cadaver) and then they can look on the screen to find out what they鈥檙e supposed to be looking for,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淚t provides a nice resource for the students.鈥�
The Anatomage Table has proved helpful in recruiting students.
Gale Life Sciences Building, Room 261, Ecology, Physiology and Comparative Anatomy Laboratory.
This laboratory was outfitted with new tables that are tall and broad and new cabinetry. It also has new LED lighting and a new hidden screen for a projector. The lab is used for general ecology, human physiology, exercise physiology and comparative anatomy classes.
鈥淭his is kind of a catch-all room were a lot of different things can happen,鈥� Thomas said.
Its cabinets are 鈥渇illed with bones from different critters鈥� and a variety of exercise machines can be wheeled out from side rooms that students use to get readings from.
Gale Life Sciences Building, Room 243, Neurobiology Laboratory
Human neurobiology and foundations in neuroscience classes are taught in this laboratory that allows students to look at slides under microscopes at pieces of the neurosystem such as a cross-section of a spinal cord or pieces of the human brain. This laboratory was updated with new air diffusers for ventilation, lighting and desk/table space, among other improvements.
鈥淲e have a human brain collection, but they don鈥檛 get to dissect and of that collection because the brains are so valuable,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淏ut the can look at human brains, either whole or in pieces or slices, and then they get sheep brains they can dissect themselves.鈥�
This space may also be used in the future to teach another anatomy and physiology class section.
鈥淭here could be another couple of hundred students taking classes in this building,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淲e fill these classes.鈥�
Gale Life Sciences Building, Room 153
This laboratory is used by a wide number of classes, including cell biology, microbial diversity, experimental biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, food microbiology and fermentation fundamentals. This lab was redone and includes fume hoods, new refrigerators, LED lighting and other improvements.