The Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), a division in the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, held a groundbreaking ceremony July 10, 2009 for its new facility, the future home of the plant and fungus collections from the INHS and the University's departments of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences.
The facility will also house INHS staff associated with these collections and the Species File Program staff.
The Survey's Species File Program, headed by INHS affiliate Dr. David Eades, is dedicated to advancing management and distribution of taxonomic data. The program's biologists and computer scientists collaborate with specialists throughout the world to develop websites that integrate species names, images, sound recordings, identification keys, and specimen information.
Construction of the two-story, 20,000 square-foot building will begin later in July with completion scheduled for August 2010. Dr. Brian Anderson, Director of the Illinois Natural History Survey, indicated that the construction of the facility was only possible because of long-term cooperation among the University of Illinois, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and the Research Park. According to Anderson, the facility will promote biodiversity conservation by bringing together taxonomists, experimental biologists, resource managers, and policy makers to solve applied problems in natural resources management like the threats to Illinois' plants and animals from invasive species and climate change.
The centerpiece of the new building will be its 4,500 square-foot collection room, which will provide state-of-the-art storage for the three collections, currently housed in separate facilities across the Champaign-Urbana campus. When combined, the collection will contain about 875,000 dried specimens, making it the 13th largest plant and fungus collection in country. The room will contain mobile shelving to reduce space requirements and will have special climate control to protect the specimens, some of which date back to the Survey's founding more than 150 years ago. The building will also provide space for University staff and visitors to use the collection, in addition to offices and laboratories for Survey scientists.
Designed by Cannon Design, the building will incorporate green roofs, a soil berm to insulate the collection room, and other energy efficient features to achieve LEED Silver or Gold certification, a measure of green building practices. Funding for the building comes from the State of Illinois, the University, and a private donor.