Add as a preferred source on Google

TAMU Plant Pathology and Microbiology Building Opens

  • 11/12/19

COLLEGE STATION, TX – An initiative begun during the 2012-2013 academic year led Texas A&M University’s (TAMU) College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to declare five grand challenges of agriculture. Three of those—“Feeding Our World,” “Improving Our Health,” and “Protecting Our Environment”—were specifically called out by Sandy Pierson, professor and head of the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Plant Pathology and Microbiology Building two years ago. Now, with the building’s official grand opening in late October, the department can enhance its collaborative efforts with the Institute for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology (IPGB) and other College of Agriculture and Life Sciences departments, including Entomology, Horticulture, Soil and Crop Sciences, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Ecosystem Sciences and Management, and Wildlife and Fishery Sciences.

Texas A&M Plant Pathology 200

The new building provides generic, flexible labs with the capabilities necessary to support research as it evolves. Its 84,000 square feet includes two plant pathology instructional labs, one bio-environmental instructional lab, teaching support spaces, 20 general research spaces with associated support areas, an integral greenhouse, two multipurpose seminar rooms, one multipurpose flat-floor auditorium, and administrative offices. Its placement adjacent to the Horticulture/Forest Science Building, and near other related research departments and facilities, strengthens and enhances opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration among faculty and students.

The building, which will serve as the new home of the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology as well as the Bioenvironmental Sciences (BESC) program, was planned and designed by Flad Architects in collaboration with architect of record Randall Scott Architects.

Featured

  • California High School Starts Construction on STEAM, Music Buildings

    Tamalpais High School, part of the Tamalpais Union High School District, recently broke ground on two new major facilities for its campus in Mill Valley, Calif., according to a news release. The district is partnering with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) and Lathrop Construction Associates for the Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) and Music Buildings, both replacing their outdated counterparts.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • Texas K–12 District to Build New Elementary, High Schools

    The High Island Independent School District on the Bolivar Peninsula in Southeast Texas recently announced that construction on a new elementary school and a new high school will begin in January 2026, according to local news. Funding will come from a $27.9-million bond passed in May 2025.

  • New eBook Shares Guidelines on Building CTE Centers

    Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum and resources provider iCEV recently announced the publication of a new eBook sharing guidance and insights on building new CTE facilities, according to a news release.

Digital Edition