"With this building, Hamilton makes a strong statement about the
important role that science plays at a liberal arts college. This is
not only a place where science is taught; it's also a place where
science is done. So much of modern science pedagogy is built around
students doing science, including discovery-based and inquiry-led
laboratories and student-faculty undergraduate research. The building
has extraordinary laboratory space for these teaching and research
activities. It is bright, open, handsome and safe. Science does not
only happen inside the classroom and lab. It happens when we discuss
results and brainstorm about the next question or experiment to pursue.
This building gives us the critical laboratory space and provides
casual space for faculty and students to interact outside of the
classroom and lab. I can't imagine a finer facility."
-- Tim Elgren, associate professor of chemistry and past president of the Council on Undergraduate Research
"Faculty-student interaction is the cornerstone of a Hamilton
education. In the sciences, the most important form of this is
faculty-student collaborative research. In the old Science Building,
the Geosciences Department quite simply did not have adequate space;
for the past decade, five faculty members had been sharing space that
once was utilized by a department of two. In many ways it was like
trying to play baseball in your backyard -- it could be done, but it
wasn't easy or very pretty. We now have a first-class science 'stadium'
that will undoubtedly enhance year-round faculty-student research and,
in addition, will promote faculty-faculty interdisciplinary research."
-- Dave Bailey, associate professor of geosciences
"One of the biggest benefits of the new Science Center will be
in helping to foster a sense of community and identity among our
psychology concentrators. The new building has ample (and comfortable)
space for the students to meet for study groups, hang out in our
statistics lab and the student lounge, and conduct research with
faculty in the many laboratories. We hope that students will come to
feel that the psychology floor is their home away from home, and that
they will begin to identify themselves as belonging to a group of
faculty and student researchers."
-- Jennifer Borton, assistant professor of psychology
"The teaching and, especially, the research that we do are
greatly enhanced by having bright, enthusiastic students with whom to
work. It is also enhanced by having talented colleagues with whom to
collaborate formally or with whom to discuss ideas. The new Science
Center will allow us to do a better job of attracting both. It is
amazing to watch people's reactions as they walk around the building.
Prospective students and their families are floored by the ample
windows, the look of the glass and wood in the hallways and the
abundance of comfortable areas in which to study and to relax. Visiting
scientists are highly impressed by the quality of the laboratory and
teaching spaces and the organization of the office and interactive
spaces. It will be very hard for anyone to turn down an offer of
admission or of a job when the privilege of working in the Science
Center lies in their future."
-- Ian Rosenstein, associate professor of chemistry
"Accessible yet secure spaces in the new Science Center make it
easier for students to manage biological studies realistically. Living
things run on a schedule that often does not fit expectations of 9-5
and weekdays only, and some things cannot be automated. Returning to
check on chick embryos, mice, tissue cultures or seedlings is often a
necessary part of study and research. There is also inducement for more
flexible study. For example, sometimes a student just cannot face that
dissection for another minute on a particular afternoon. At many
colleges and universities, students must use or lose their assigned lab
time. They are locked out afterward or some other class uses the space.
Having a lab dedicated to a course makes it possible for students to
return for study when their minds are receptive in the evening or over
the weekend."
-- Sue Ann Miller, professor of biology
"Now that we are moved to our new facility, ?lecture-based?
teaching and laboratory teaching can be more closely integrated. I can
teach my morning Attention and Performance lectures in the same space
as the course?s afternoon laboratory. Thus, we can seamlessly
incorporate laboratory exploration or hands-on experience into the
lecture without having to wait for a laboratory meeting. In addition,
the students in this junior-level laboratory course can easily visit
the adjacent advanced research laboratory (where the senior project and
independent research projects are set up) to get inspiration for their
own eventual senior projects. Also, it is no longer necessary to use
the same laboratory for two courses (one mornings, one afternoons), as
was the case for the Cognitive Psychology and Learning and Cognition
courses. We now have a laboratory with appropriate air handling and
acoustic isolation that can be dedicated to operant conditioning
laboratory work with rats, which has a long tradition here at B. F.
Skinner?s alma mater."
