The New Mexico Consortium building and greenhouse are nearly completed at the Entrada site; their research will focus on renewable energy, food security, and climate change. Courtesy photo

Located between the Los Alamos airport runway, the Holiday Inn, and the Food Coop is a new building for joint collaborative research in the plant sciences focusing on renewable energy systems, improving global food security, and documenting and addressing the challenges of global climate change.

As a result of a joint partnership between Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the New Mexico Consortium (NMC), directed by Katharine Chartrand, and Los Alamos County, a new 27,000 square foot laboratory and 4,000 square foot state-of-the-art greenhouse facility is being built; it’s scheduled to open in June 2013.

An estimated 60 research scientists from LANL with joint appointments at the NMC will develop cross-cutting research programs to address some of the major grand challenges facing the planet.

To feed and fuel a growing population in a sustainable way as efficiently as possible will require the development of novel innovative technologies that are guided by a greater understanding of how human activities impact the planet.

By bringing together scientists from diverse disciplines and research divisions within LANL working in an open laboratory environment, it is expected that new innovative approaches will emerge to address these challenges.

I am very excited about the opportunity to harness the immense talent and facilities at LANL while building new collaborations. Please come and visit us after we open.