Graduate students Shannon Uffenbeck and John Moore last month worked in the genetics lab of UAA's new Ecosystem and Biomedical Laboratory. Twelve faculty researchers are still settling in to the facility, working with students primarily in biological sciences but also in chemistry. "It's a huge improvement over what we had," professor Frank von Hippel said, mentioning far-flung experiments. "Now we can do everything in this one facility." (Photo by Erik Hill / Anchorage Daily News) A male three-spine stickle-back is momentarily trapped in an aquarium for observation in the new building. Faculty won't be fully moved in until fall. (Photo by Erik Hill / Anchorage Daily News) The new Ecosystem and Biomedical Laboratory building sits off UAA Drive on Scoter Lane, across the street from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Consortium Library. (Photo by Erik Hill / Anchorage Daily News) Click on photo to enlarge

Professors, desperate for laboratory space, moved as fast as they could into the University of Alaska Anchorage's first addition built specifically for scientific research.

"We had a real space crunch," said Jocelyn Krebs, molecular biology professor at UAA. "I've been here with a beanbag chair and a laptop for months now."

Krebs moved in before her office furniture. She is one of a dozen professors who'll be working with their students in the new Ecosystem and Biomedical Laboratory, across the street from the College of Arts and Science Building off Scoter Lane.

The 16,000-square-foot lab cost $6 million, said Susan Ruddy, vice chancellor for university advancement. About $4.85 million came from a general obligation bond, the rest from legislative appropriation, she said.

The building serves a growing science program at UAA.

Before the laboratory opened this summer, many of the professors were working out of the CAS Building. The demands of modern science exceed what the almost 30-year-old building can provide, professors said.

The number of undergraduate students majoring in biological sciences has more than tripled from 91 to 330 in the past 15 years, said Don Spalinger, chairman of the biology department.

The professors working out of the new laboratory will study such subjects as genetics, ecology and evolution.

Krebs' team is studying DNA damage and repair as well as how a change in genes can cause cataracts in African frogs. Students of professor Frank von Hippel are studying how one fish species can evolve into another in as little as 20 years.

Jennifer Burns, a professor of ecology and physiology, has students researching the diving behavior and diet of marine mammals.

The building gives laboratory space to professors who once had none, Burns said. Those who had space were forced to do studies in older buildings that didn't meet safety codes and lacked essential equipment, professors said.

Von Hippel set up fish pools in the university's welding yard. When that space could no longer be used, he'd move his study to unused classrooms.

"We had to beg and borrow for labs," he said. "We'd have an experiment halfway through that we'd have to completely take apart, move and set up again."

Now the fish used in von Hippel's studies are housed in banks of aquariums that line the walls of the laboratory. He has access to well water that is not chlorinated -- an essential ingredient for his fish research.

The new building frees up space in the old CAS Building for more classrooms, Burns said. Professors said the laboratory also will give undergraduate students more opportunities for hands-on work and will make it easier to attract faculty members.

"It's very hard to recruit good science faculty if there are poor science facilities," Burns said.

Von Hippel said the new building allows professors and students to do research with major funding.

"It brings a lot of money to the university that wasn't possible before," he said.

Von Hippel said that with his old lab he could not have accepted a $530,000 National Science Foundation grant for a study he is working on now. His fish study requires a controlled environment with set levels of light and water temperatures so all the fish are kept in the same conditions -- all possible in the new lab.

The professors say the new building doesn't provide enough space for all UAA science teachers. Professors, including von Hippel and Burns, have pitched for a new UAA Integrated Science Building. The proposed facility would group the sciences under one roof and would give professors more room to work and teach, they said.