The Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) opened a new state-of-the-art laboratory facility last week at their Ferry Reach premises.

Construction of the 14,000 square foot Michael R. Naess Laboratory took less than a year.

The addition of the lab effectively doubles the size of BBSR?s research and educational facilities, allowing the institute to expand its current programmes and take advantage of new research and teaching opportunities as they arise.

The increased space and cutting-edge construction, will also allow BBSR to form new collaborations with other top research institutions and to attract leading scientists from around the world to join its facility.

President and director of BBSR Dr. Tony Knap said the completion of the new facility marked a great step forward for marine science and education from this unique Island base.

?Bermuda has always been an ideal place to conduct this kind of research, with its location in the middle of the deep ocean, its near-pristine inshore environments and its location between Europe and North America,? he said.

Dr. Knap said the new facility would help BBSR to reach its full potential as a leader in the global marine science arena.

?The North Atlantic is increasingly regarded as a lynchpin in the regulation of global climate, and BBSR?s programmes in this region continue to reflect Bermuda as the key barometer of global climate change,? he said.

The multimillion-dollar building will house an expanded Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study, BBSR?s largest oceanographic research programme, new molecular marine biology and microbiology/genomics laboratories, the Oceanic Microbial Observatory, a cutting edge flow cytometry facility, a coral reef ecotoxicology laboratory, an advanced flow-through seawater system and a facility for culturing marine micro-organisms in order to increase understanding of ocean and human health issues.

The $7 million that was needed to construct and outfit the building was donated by corporations, foundations and individuals, both local and international, that supported BBSR?s New Horizon Campaign and Michael R. Naess Memorial Building Fund.

This support included a $900,000 challenge grant awarded by the Michigan-based Kresge Foundation.