Monday, August 28, 2000
Focused on learning
Consultants begin study of pay and classification system
Construction gets under way for new Aquatic Biotechnology and Environmental Laboratory
By Helen Fosgate
hfosgate@smokey.forestry.uga.edu

Work began Aug. 14 on the new $1.4 million Aquatic Biotechnology and Environmental Laboratory, dubbed ABEL, at Whitehall Forest off South Milledge Avenue. Funded through the Georgia Research Alliance, the lab will be among only a handful of such facilities worldwide for testing the potential health effects of environmental toxicants.
In the lab, a team of UGA researchers, headed by the Warnell School of Forest Resources’ Richard Winn, will use genetically modified or transgenic fish to study how various chemicals and other agents Affect natural aquatic ecosystems and, possibly, human health.
“We’re looking at the effects of radiation, carcinogens, the chemicals that are produced as by-products of the disinfection of drinking water, and even anti-carcinogenic substances like green tea,” says Winn.
The lab will include aquatic laboratories for biological testing under highly controlled environmental conditions.
ABEL, scheduled for completion in spring 2000, will accommodate fresh- and saltwater species, including specialized strains developed for aquaculture, environmental hazard assessment, biomedicine and biotechnology.
“This facility gives UGA an important resource in which to better understand human impacts on the environment,” says Arnett C. Mace Jr., dean of the Warnell School.
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