The Life Sciences Building Opening reception on April 5, 2019.

Life Sciences Building: campus’s new central hangout

Life Sciences Building: campus’s new central hangout

The recently-completed Life Sciences Building had a celebration last Saturday honoring its opening and impact on student education.

The three-story building contains a 300-seat lecture hall and 13 student laboratories. It’s also home to Steeped, a new cafe featuring a variety of sandwiches and teas.

“It’s a tremendous teaching space at the University,” stated Dr. Chris Luecke, Dean of Quinney College of Natural Resources. “There’s great teaching spaces, but also teaching laboratories, and also it’s a great place for students to hang out and study.”

The building has been needed for several years, taking the place of the Peterson Agricultural Building after it was demolished in 2012.

Dr. Luecke commented on the importance of its opening, saying, “We’ve been having difficulties in finding rooms that fit…students are using it a lot right now.”

The new building has been structured to address many of the problems of the previous one in order to better serve those who use it. “The students and the faculty are the number one thing in the design,” said Jayson Woolley, the on-site project manager for the Life Sciences Building.

Woolley said that one of Jacobsen Construction’s main goals was to bring new life into the building, which will in turn bring more students to Utah State University to advance their careers. “Not only are we bringing this building to life, but inside it’s bringing lots of students’ careers to life and opportunities to life and things like that,” he said.

Dean of the College of Science, Dr. Maura Hagan, commented on the far-reaching impact of the new building on teaching within the Utah State biology department. “This has really revolutionized the experience for our students,” she said.

The new teaching labs and student biology classrooms have also had a critical impact. “We’ve been able to double the amount of students that we can have in a given time-slot to have these experiences,” said Hagan.

The College of Science plans to further improve and develop its buildings. Hagan explained that the Building of Natural Resources is next to be renovated with an addition to the West lobby followed by renovation of the north wing.

These changes stem from the University’s dedication to developing state-of-the-art classrooms to more effectively prepare students for the workplace. “We have a tradition of training people,” Dr Hagan said.

While these new changes are coming, the Life Sciences Building is ready to make its mark on Utah State’s education.

As Woolley said, “When you look at the building, the inside and the outside, it’s just a cool building.”

—Emily Call