The New Mexico State University Board of Regents recently approved a five-year funding request plan for $90 million in infrastructure updates for agricultural science centers operated by the NMSU Agricultural Experiment Station in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
“We are pleased to have taken this important first step in the plan to upgrade facilities at our science centers statewide,” said Ammu Devasthali, chair of the NMSU Board of Regents. “The centers play a key role in the research that takes place at NMSU, and provide opportunities for collaboration with other universities and organizations.”
“The opportunity for AES to secure this funding will create decades of positive impacts on agriculture and environmental sciences research in New Mexico,” said Leslie Edgar, associate dean and AES director. “More than 55 percent of the buildings at our statewide AES research centers are 50 years or older, and they are in a major state of disrepair.”
The Agricultural Experiment Station, or AES, is the principal research unit of the College of ACES and supports fundamental and applied science and technology research to benefit New Mexicans in the economic, social and cultural aspects of agriculture, natural resource management and family issues. The AES system consists of scientists and researchers who work on NMSU’s main campus and at agricultural science centers across the state.
“We are very appreciative of the recognition that the AES needs funding support to bring our facilities in the 12 science centers up to speed,” said Rolando A. Flores Galarza, dean of the College of ACES. “As it happened with the GO Bond funding for the Food Science Learning and Safety Center and the Feed Mill, the College of ACES can continue improving and modernizing its teaching, research and extension approaches in benefit of New Mexico’s agriculture and true to the role of the land grant university.”
The request for funding was approved after the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities completed a national study the current status of capital infrastructure at colleges and schools of agriculture, and found critical update needs of more than $11.5 billion nationally.
NMSU’s AES has a critical need to update research infrastructure at the science and research centers that are strategically located throughout New Mexico. The current request for $25 million will support priority facility upgrades at each center, following the recommendations of the NMSU Office of Facilities and Services after facility condition index reviews were conducted at each research facility.
“The Agriculture Experiment Stations is integral to the agriculture land-grant university mission of NMSU,” said NMSU Regent Dina Chacón-Reitzel. “Because the centers are strategically located across New Mexico, agriculture and natural resource research is conducted to address the specific needs of each region. The multi-year funding is long overdue, and is critical for upgrading the research centers and expanding agriculture research capacity for the benefit of all New Mexicans.”
The first round of fiscal year 2025 legislative requests will assist with the most critical deferred maintenance needs at all 12 agricultural science centers. Updates include demolition, replacement of facilities, and upgrading housing and site infrastructure.
There are 12 agricultural science centers throughout New Mexico, including three near the NMSU main campus in Las Cruces. To learn more about the centers, visit https://aes.nmsu.edu/offcampus.html .
The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-board-of-regents-approves-plan-to-upgrade-aes-research-facilities-statewide/s/81443348-c12e-47c5-bf91-6ac20b922dd7