Bacon Hall Reopens this Fall after Extensive Renovation
Located on Boston Avenue, the recently renovated science and laboratory building now houses teaching and research labs for the Departments of Earth and Climate Sciences and Biology working on earth science, ecology, and environmental studies, as well as energy, sustainability and climate change solutions.
The new lab spaces in the building were designed to allow for flexibility and foster collaboration, and are currently being outfitted with state-of-the-art technology. For example, marine ecologist Randi Rotjan lab space will be equipped with a coral reef system, a tropical room, a saltwater room, and an experimental space. Biologist Colin Orians’ lab has a mass spectrometer room, which provides a place to quantify how plant chemistry changes in response to the biotic and abiotic environment. This will allow Orians, who studies global change biology, to measure plant nutritional traits, specific non-volatile chemicals, and hundreds of volatile plant metabolites that all drive changes in plant responses and suitability to both insect enemies and human consumers. The gaschromatography mass spectrometer facility specifically will allow his lab to identify target metabolites that mediate plant and consumer interactions.
The new occupants of the building will be a group of laboratories of Biology and Earth and Climate Sciences faculty working in related areas of research. This cohabitation will facilitate collaboration and synergies between faculty members and their interdisciplinary research work. Faculty with labs in Bacon Hall include:
- Allie Balter-Kennedy, Assistant Professor, Earth and Climate Sciences
- Athena Eyster, Assistant Professor, Earth and Climate Sciences
- Rebecca Jackson, Assistant Professor, Earth and Climate Sciences
- Andrew Kemp, Associate Professor, Earth and Climate Sciences
- Colin Orians, Professor and Chair, Biology
- Randi Rotjan, Associate Professor, Biology
- Philip Starks, Associate Professor, Biology
- Jill VanTongeren, Professor and Chair, Earth and Climate Sciences
- Dylan Vasey, Assistant Professor, Earth and Climate Sciences
A plaza in the front of Bacon Hall will function as a community gathering space and includes a pollinator garden and a geological specimen display. The building is also now the home to the P.T. Barnum Mineral Collection, which includes thousands of mineral and geological specimens. In addition, the renovations to Bacon Hall include a new roof and windows, upgraded exterior walls, and a significant addition providing a centrally located entryway, which make the building more thermally efficient and prioritize accessibility.
The opening of the facilities in Bacon Hall follows growth in the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences’ academic programs due to student and research interest in the field. Last year, in addition to hiring more ECS faculty, the department announced two new majors, Earth Science and Climate Science, as well as a new minor in Earth and Climate Sciences. Amid increasing global challenges around mitigating climate change, these exciting campus developments are one example of how Tufts is supporting faculty and students to make a meaningful impact on the future.