Public Invited to Dedication of USDA-ARS Poisonous Plant Research Lab

“Celebrating 100 years of research on poisonous plants” is the theme for the dedication of the new Poisonous Plant Research Laboratory (PPRL) at Utah State University. A dedication ceremony will be held Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 11 a.m. at the Stan Laub Training Center, located adjacent to the lab at 1150 E. 1400 North in Logan. The program is followed by a light luncheon and tours of the new $7.5 million facility.

 

Operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), the PPRL is the only research facility in the country devoted exclusively to investigating pasture and rangeland plants poisonous to livestock and wildlife. The USDA has conducted poisonous plant research since 1905 and established the PPRL on the Utah State campus in 1954.

 

The new two-story, 26,700-square-foot facility features spacious, light-filled laboratory areas and offices, along with a conference room and employee lunch area, to accommodate an interdisciplinary team of veterinarians, range scientists, chemists, toxicologists, pathologists and animal scientists.

 

Utah’s five-member congressional delegation, led by appropriations committee member Sen. Bob Bennett, helped to secure funding from the 2003 federal budget for the new laboratory. A ground-breaking ceremony was held in October 2002.

 

Those who wish to attend the Nov. 16 dedication are asked to RSVP to 435-752-2941 or lfjpprl@cc.usu.edu. For more information about PPRL, visit www.pprl.usu.edu.

 

Writer:  Mary-Ann Muffoletto, 435-797-1429