Getting a Jump on the 21st Century

By Carol Flaherty

11/07/99 BOZEMAN, Mont. - Some scientists moved into the 21st Century a few months early.

When Montana State University-Bozeman scientists moved into new laboratories in the Agricultural Bioscience Facility over the summer, they stepped over the threshold of a primary home of Montana biosciences for the next hundred years.

The move brought relief for the claustrophobes who had been in cramped quarters in Leon Johnson Hall and better research facilities for many. In particular, the facility offers new opportunities for developing disease and weed management appropriate for the region. It also includes a new laboratory for undergraduate biotechnology majors.

"This facility is unique," says Sharron Quisenberry, dean of MSU's College of Agriculture and director of its Experiment Station. "It is the only insect and plant pathogen quarantine facility west of the Mississippi River, and it gives us new capabilities for high quality applied and basic research that ultimately will enhance Montana agriculture."

Some of the work in the ABF will even relate to human disease, since MSU Virologist Mark Young's work with plant viruses has shown a way to detect human cancer cells earlier than ever before.

Don Mathre, a plant pathologist who has worked over the past 10 years to help plan the facility, says it boosts Montana's economic development potential. "We've brought together in one location the people who are focused on cereal quality and value added," says Mathre. "We can show visiting trade teams the facilities we have for testing noodle, pasta and bread quality, and let them talk to the researchers developing products to meet buyer needs. That, hopefully, will help with economic development."

Debra Habernicht, manager of the Cereal Quality Laboratory, says her laboratory is much more efficient. "We can do more analyses at the same time, so the work goes much faster," said Habernight.

Both Habernicht and plant pathologist Martha Mikkelson were in extremely cramped quarters in Leon Johnson Hall. Mikkelson, a plant disease diagnostician in the ABF's Schutter Diagnostic Laboratory, says there are many benefits to being in the new facility.

"The new building is great for public access," said Mikkelson. " The public had trouble finding us in Leon Johnson Hall." The ABF is the first building on the west side of South Eleventh south of College Street. There is a parking lot adjacent.

Another benefit for plant diagnostics is the increased square footage and counter space of the Schutter Laboratory.

"Now when we have groups of farmers come in, they can all get around the table. We can show them how we're doing the tests for a disease. In the old laboratory, there wasn't enough counter space. You can imagine what it's like when we get 25 samples a day in the summer. We didn't even have a place to put them until now.

Weed control research will get a real boost too. The ABF has a micro-containment facility to use to study potential noxious weed controls. Previously, it was not unusual to have a number of pathogens waiting their turn back east at the Fort Detrick Biocontrol laboratory. Now, research on these biological controls of insects and weeds can be studied more efficiently.

The new facility "helps a lot," said Sands. "When you go to buy a used car, you want to look at 50 on the lot and pick the best. It's the same with finding controls for noxious weeds. We will use the facility to test hundreds of possible controls, and we'll pick the best."

Dave Baumbauer, a member of the planning committee for the ABF, says that it is physically split into two types of construction. The laboratories were built with massive steel beams to reduce vibration on sensitive scientific equipment. The office area is built with more common steel beam construction. Both are safe and efficient, but designers were able to save construction costs in the office area. The laboratories also have extra load carrying capacity for large equipment, as well as additional electrical supply and temperature controls. The laboratories are open rooms with moveable equipment rather than built-ins, so they can be reconfigured when needed without major expense.

Though the ABF is very functional, with exposed piping and conduit to allow less expensive access for repairs, the building has architectural appeal as well. Above entryways there is a repeating motif of a stylized grain head. A long, interior walkway passing the Gene Thayer Conference Room is called the "Galleria," and has high rectangular "clouds" in the rich brown hues of burnished wood.

For Tom Blake, the Montana Experiment Station's barley breeder working in the ABF's Dewierski Cereal Research Laboratory, the facility has brought the Plant Sciences Department together in ways he never would have thought possible.

"It has allowed us to consolidate and share our equipment in ways we couldn't before," adds Blake.

Altogether, this makes the new facility a "state of the art regional center for excellence," says Quisenberry.

Send questions or comments to Carol Flaherty, MSU Communications Services, Bozeman, MT 59717: carolf@montana.edu.

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