April 13, 2015
The Fisheries and Oceans Canada St. Andrews Biological Station is Atlantic Canada’s oldest marine research station, opening its doors in 1908. The Government of Canada has recently invested more than $65 million to build two new state-of-the art facilities, a wet laboratory and a science building which were officially named today.
The new 4,500 square metre science building, which houses offices, analytical laboratories, and a computer centre, was officially named the Dr. David Pearce Penhallow Building. Dr. Penhallow served as the first permanent Director of the St. Andrews Biological Station from 1908-1909. A native of Kittery Point, Maine, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Massachusetts College, Boston University and Masters and Doctorate degrees from McGill University in Montreal. He was a passionate researcher whose public spirit and love of enterprise and the Atlantic coast drew him to St. Andrews. His appointment as director came to an abrupt end after taking medical leave and passing away at sea while travelling to England in 1910.
The new 2,900 square metre, secure wet lab facility allows research to be conducted on live marine animals in support of fisheries, aquaculture, biodiversity and climate change. It has officially been named the Dr. Alfreda P. Berkeley Needler Laboratory. Dr. Needler was one of the first female scientists to work at the Biological Station in 1930s and 40s. Her research covered a number of diverse disciplines from studying sex reversal in the American Atlantic oyster; the behavior of shipworm larvae that were causing damage to wooden structures such as piers, docks and ships; and the study of phytoplankton that cause “red tides” and paralytic shellfish poisoning. Her research was conducted as a volunteer as she was the spouse of the then director, Dr. Alfred Needler. At that time, spouses were not permitted to be employed at the same institute. Unfortunately, her career ended relatively early as she died from cancer at the age of 48.
Unique features of the Dr. Alfreda P. Berkeley Needler Laboratory include:
- Eighteen individually enclosed photoperiod labs where users can manipulate photoperiod (light regimes), water, and air temperature to create customized conditions for individual projects.
- A large hatchery with approximately 76 hatching tanks and 44 larval tanks. The capability to chill the air in this room makes it better suited to maintain constant temperature in the tanks and support the low flows of water required to raise early life stages of fish. Three spacious labs for growing live feeds (organisms that are fed to marine fish larvae) are conveniently located on the second level.
- A flume laboratory with specialized equipment that allows researchers to look at the behaviour of marine animals in a controlled environment.
- A quarantine or biocontainment laboratory for disease-related research in farmed fish. It is the only lab on the East Coast of Canada with reliable flow-through technology, durable finishes that support a harsh salt rich environment, and a highly technical mechanical water supply system that will provide high quality seawater and freshwater in various temperature regimes. The biocontainment labs have mechanical control systems that are separate from those in the main wet lab, to prevent mixing of contaminated air or water with non-quarantine areas. All effluent from the biocontainment labs is treated to kill pathogens (separate from the building), then neutralized before being discharged into the environment.
Custodian Departments, such as DFO, name facilities and structures according to the policies of Public Works Government Services Canada. The naming of a Government of Canada structure allows the retention of posterity of a memorial to a person (posthumously), event or an historically significant location.
News release: Minister Rob Moore Announces Over $3 Million Infrastructure Funding and Officially Names New Fisheries and Oceans Canada Science Facilities
B-MAR-15-01E
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