Sources: Jim Stack, 785-532-1333, jstack@k-state.edu;
and Ralph Richardson, 785-532-5660, rcr@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu
Thursday, October 4, 2007
K-STATE'S BIOSECURITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE SPELLS HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS ACROSS DISCIPLINES
MANHATTAN -- College students have been known to work any variety of odd jobs, from waiting tables to selling textbooks in the university bookstore. But working in a high-level biocontainment facility isn't on a lot of resumes.
For six Kansas State University students, that's a daily reality.
"I have learned a lot about the different levels of biocontainment, and how much goes into making sure that this kind of facility is safe and functioning," said Madeline Ross, a junior in public health nutrition, Roeland Park. Ross is one of the six student employees this semester at K-State's Biosecurity Research Institute, the newest and most technically advanced building on campus.
"There are only a few facilities in the world that have the capabilities that the BRI has," Ross said.
The $54 million biocontainment facility, which is just north of K-State's veterinary medicine complex, has 31,000 square feet of laboratory space designed to host several levels of animal, plant and food research. Besides secure laboratory research, the facility also was designed with education in mind. It has a training suite, complete with a mock lab and lecture-style seating. The suite is designed so that lab workers can see how lab protocol is carried out before they practice it themselves.
The institute, dedicated in fall 2006, will be ready for research in spring 2008, but it is already being used as an educational tool.
"It was nice to find an on-campus job that involved more than answering phones or sitting in an office," Ross said. " We get to work on something new almost every day."
Students are doing everything from ordering supplies and setting up computers, to working on information packets and the institute's communications plan. They're even equipping the labs where advanced research will take place.
"Our student staff is an integral part of the team. They provide valuable assistance for many of the projects necessary to get the Biosecurity Research Institute ready for research," said Jim Stack, institute director. "K-State students are among the best and the brightest of this generation. Their energy and inquisitiveness will be key to ensuring the Biosecurity Research Institute is a first-rate research and education facility."
Brady Strahm, freshman in pre-medicine is looking forward to the spring.
"My job will be even better once the facility is up and running because of the increased opportunity to watch what happens from behind-the-scenes," said Strahm, a freshman in pre-medicine, Sabetha. "This is on-the-job-training, of sorts. It's an internship."
Ralph Richardson, dean of K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine, said that job opportunities in facilities like the Biosecurity Research Institute open the students' eyes to other career options. He said K-State's bid for the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility – a lab that is larger but similar in mission to the Biosecurity Research Institute – will mean even more student opportunities. Internships are possible, as is direct involvement in advanced federal research.
"The presence of our facility and the opportunity to partner with a federal lab provides great hope for the future of understanding emerging infectious diseases, whether they be domestic or foreign," Richardson said. "Building a work force for the future is what we're about."
Along with Ross and Strahm, students currently working at the K-State's Biosecurity Research Institute include: Clint Blaes, senior in agricultural communications and journalism and agricultural economics, Cherryvale; Jeff Schuler, sophomore in electrical engineering, and Mario Smith, senior in civil engineering, both of Manhattan; and Adriann Sullivan, junior in electrical engineering, Wichita.