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from the issue of August 24, 2006
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Faculty, staff, students settle into facility
School (of Natural Resources) Makeover
BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
The fall semester has opened doors to a new home for the School of Natural Resources.
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| | | HARDIN HALL - The new home for the School of Natural Resources includes a new main entrance to the north. The Department of Statistics has also relocated to Hardin Hall. Photo by Brett Hampton/IANR.
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Previously scattered in eight buildings across East and City campuses, Natural Resources - created in 1997 and renamed in 2003 - has moved into Hardin Hall following a three-year, $18 million renovation. Hardin Hall - named in honor of Clifford Hardin, chancellor from 1954-1968 and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1969-1971 - is on the corner of 33rd and Holdrege streets and was formerly the Nebraska Center for Continuing Education.
"This facility will make our efforts more cohesive," said Mark Kuzila, director of the School of Natural Resources. "It is great to be in one place where faculty, staff and students can interact easily."
Gutting the nine-story building to concrete supports and floors, the renovation provides Natural Resources faculty, staff and students with 150,000 square feet of labs and office space.
Included in Hardin Hall are the former departments of Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife and Agricultural Meteorology, Conservation and Survey Division, the Water Center, the National Drought Mitigation Center, the High Plains Regional Climate Center, the Great Plains Regional Center for Global Environmental Change, the Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies, and the Nebraska Earth Systems Education Network. The Department of Statistics is also in Hardin Hall.
The facility includes 25 labs, using 12,000 square feet of space in the basement, and parts of first and second floors. Wet labs in the basement will be used for fish, limnology, forestry and wildlife courses. Document cameras in the ceiling and camera-type microscopes that project images from individual lab stations onto a larger screen allow the space to double as teaching labs.
| | RESEARCH UNDER WAY - Jenny Oltman, a research technician and UNL graduate, sorts invertebrates gathered from the Niobrara River. The Hardin Center includes 25 labs encompassing 12,000 square feet of space in the basement, first and second floors. Photo by Brett Hampton/IANR.
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The lab space also has a freight elevator that allows for easy transfer of large items for study.
The overall design of the lab space was enhanced through feedback from faculty.
"We were able to get together and decide what our needs were for this facility," said Jim Brandle, a professor in the school. "We now have phenomenal teaching facilities that were not available before. And, that is going to benefit our students."
The school will also benefit from a pod arrangement of office space that places faculty and staff of like disciplines in close proximity.
"We arranged office space by area of expertise," said Kuzila. "Before, these same people were often not on the same floor or even in the same building. This new arrangement will allow for increased collaboration."
School administrators have offices in the top floor, which also boasts a modern conference room. The Hardin Center also includes a student lounge, three computer labs (one open 24 hours, seven days a week), classrooms, a 450-seat auditorium (that is still in the construction phase) and a first-floor welcome/recruitment center.
"Before we moved in here, the School of Natural Resources did not have a home," Kuzila said. "Now, we have this wonderful facility. It is the home for Natural Resources and a home away from home for our students."
GO TO: ISSUE OF AUGUST 24
NEWS HEADLINES FOR AUGUST 24
UNL to unveil world-class laser
Depth report documentary examines natural disasters
Mueller Tower safety issues addressed
School (of Natural Resources) Makeover
Transportation Center lands $6.25M grant
University maintains top-50 rank
From the Archives
NU cites progress in minority, women hires
Study traces connection between early reading, learning success
UNL entities help state business succeed
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