Berkeley Lab hosted a small, invitation-only ribbon-cutting, or rather garland-cutting, ceremony on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Visiting Department of Energy (DOE) officials gathered with Lab leaders to celebrate the near completion of the new Biological and Environmental Program Integration Center (BioEPIC), setting the stage for future scientific discovery
Among the attendees from DOE were Sheila Feddis, director of the Office of Science’s Office of Infrastructure & Modernization and Dorothy Koch, Associate Director of the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program. Berkeley Lab Director Mike Witherell and Michael Brandt, Deputy Lab Director for Operations, and Ryan Haworth, Vice President of Project Development, Clark Construction Group joined them in the front row during the ceremonial garland cutting. Also present from the Lab were representatives of those who will eventually be housed in the building including Paul Adams, Associate Lab Director, Biosciences; Susannah Tringe, Division Director, Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology; Bill Collins, Associate Lab Director, Earth & Environmental Sciences Area; and Alistair Rogers, Division Director, Climate and Ecosystem Sciences.
BioEPIC opened its doors to occupants in early 2025. Scientists representing multiple disciplines are working side by side in the building to study microbial communities and how they influence and are influenced by the environment, across time and space.
