The grand opening of the innovative “Neil A. Campbell Science Learning Laboratory,” named after a well-known biologist and UC Riverside alumnus, will take place on July 7, 2011 and provide experimental research experience to undergraduate students.

Campbell, who died in 2004, was named in 2001 a “Distinguished Alumnus,” the highest award given by the UCR Alumni Association, for being an exceptional educator and supporter of science education. He is a co-author of Biology, an introductory text widely used in both high school and college-level classes.

The Campbell Learning Lab located in the University Laboratory Building was made possible by a generous gift of about $520,000 by Rochelle Campbell, wife of the late Neil Campbell. Funds from the gift were used to renovate the first floor of the University Laboratory Building.

The lab will be home to “The Dynamic Genome,” a laboratory-intensive learning program launched by Susan Wessler, an IIGB/CEPCEB researcher who holds a University of California President’s Chair and is a distinguished professor of genetics in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UCR. A portion of a $1 million Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant to Wessler will be used to fund the learning program.

The Campbell Learning Lab includes a lecture hall, teaching lab, and office space. The first course at the lab will begin this fall quarter. Students in the program will learn computational and experimental tools of genome analysis to understand how evolution works.