Indiana Ag Connection - Purdue Breaking Ground on New Wildlife Care Facility

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Purdue Breaking Ground on New Wildlife Care Facility
Indiana Ag Connection - 01/22/2020

Purdue University's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) is breaking ground on a new wildlife care facility this spring. The new building will greatly expand and improve the department's wildlife lab capability, enhance teaching experiences and increase researchers' abilities to run controlled experiments.

The 4,700-square-foot facility, made possible by a $1 million donation from the estate of Roger and Sarah Voyles, will replace an outdated building at the Purdue Wildlife Area, which would have required extensive and costly repairs for continued usage. Roger Voyles earned his bachelor's degree in forestry at Purdue in 1950.

"The overall capacity to do animal research will greatly expand," said Jason Hoverman, associate professor of vertebrate ecology. "Currently there are four relatively small animal rooms. This new facility offers the capability of running experiments in six different rooms, as well as a common space for doing general work and some laboratory space for doing some more refined projects, all of which will allow us to accommodate more types of research. This facility will give us the ability to do our work more efficiently, while also expanding our ability to bring in more individuals to do research."

The animal care rooms will allow users to study a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial species and research questions in ecology, ecotoxicology and disease ecology. Rooms will be ventilated separately from adjacent rooms to prevent airborne pathogens from spreading as well as to isolate any odors.

"This new facility will contain temperature and photo-period controlled experimental rooms that will allow us to test the impact of environmental pollutants on aquatic organisms held under a wide range of environmental conditions," said Marisol Sepúlveda, professor and associate head for FNR research.

The Purdue Wildlife Area will support teaching, research and Purdue Extension, and combine field and outdoor research areas with an indoor laboratory facility. The 159-acre area includes natural forest, prairie and wetland habitats alongside an outdoor research area for aquatic experiments and animal husbandry and the indoor space available for controlled laboratory experiments.

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