ORGANIZATION FOR TROPICAL STUDIES, INC

The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), a 501(c)(3) consortium of universities and research institutions based in the United States, is the recipient of ARI funds to renovate and upgrade its La Selva Biological research facilities and laboratory infrastructure. La Selva handles approximately 33,000 to 35,000 person-days of use a year. Annually, between 270 and 300 scientists base their research at the station, more than 100 courses structure their offerings around stays to the station, which results in more than a 1,000 students visiting the station from the US. The La Selva Biological Station has been an active, vibrant intellectual center for tropical scientists for more than 40 years, with an impressive record of over 3,400 peer-reviewed scientific papers. Just as new technologies in embedded sensors, hyperspectral satellite imaging, and microbiology are coming on-line at La Selva, OTS finds itself constrained in both the quantity and quality of laboratory space it can offer to established scnior scientists and young start-of-career researchers. The proposed renovations of laboratory space would a) increase the number of inidividual lab spaces from 27 to 33, enabling La selva to accommodate approximately 25% more researchers during the high seasons, b) create a general use microbiology laboratory, c) reinforce walls and provide new air conditioning units for the analytic lab and the first floor of the "old lab" to create work spaces compatible with delicate instrumentation, d) install fumd hoods capable of safely handling innovative microbiology experiments, e) create a generally more conducive environment for intellectual exchange and collaboration, and f) provide a solid infrastructure to permit the next phases of expansion and laboratory instrumentation. These renovations would take the La Selva facilities from the style of the early 80's to a truly state-of-the-art tropical research institute.

Clarification of Codes