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Owens Valley Laboratory (OVL) | ||
Virtual tour of facilities,
continued: |
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| View of the Owens Valley in February, taken from the foothills of the
White Mountains. The Owens River is lined with reddish Sandbar Willows (Salix
exigua) running from left to right across the lower middle of the photograph.
The station is on the left, on the near side of the river. To the right
on the far side of the river (4 miles west) is the town of Bishop. The center
peak in the background is Mt. Humphreys, nearly 14,000' above sea level.
Mt. Emerson is to the left and Basin Mountain is to the right.
The first building you see upon entering OVL is the office/dining hall, with its inviting front porch. Many pleasant after-dinner social encounters take place here. Visitors should also check in the office (first door on the left in the entrance hallway) upon arrival to obtain instructions and discuss their plans with station staff. |
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Office/Dining Hall |
Dorm 1 |
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This is how the Owens Valley Laboratory
looks from the west. The ball field is in the foreground, and the Associate
Director's residence in on the far right. |
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Dining Hall seats 54 |
Dorm 1 has bunk space for 14 |
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The smaller North Classroom is across from the dining
hall. |
The Paul Manis Lab is set up for laboratory research,
with an electronic balance, lab benches, stereomicroscopes, ultra-cold
freezer, internet access, and more. |
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Dorms 2-5 are housed in the same building next to
the parking area. Each room has a bathroom/shower in the back. In addition,
there is a bath/shower trailer around to the southwest (photo above, at
right). |
The station has a large area for both indoor and outdoor
storage of equipment and supplies. Lockers are approximately 6x12' in
size, and may be locked for security (see
diagram) |
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Dorms 2-5 each sleep 7-10 people. |
Trailers 1,2 and 3 are usually assigned to instructors,
researchers, and/or teaching assitants. This is a room in trailer 2 There
is an adjoining bathroom/shower shared with Trailer 3.. |
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This is the south lawn, with its volleyball
court. The WMRS Director's trailer is middle left, and the VIP trailer
(2 units; East and West) are center right. |
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| The south classroom is across the lawn from the Manis lab and next to the computer lab. It has tables and chairs for classes up to about 40. | |
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The computer lab includes a GIS facility and data
clearinghouse for the region, as well as several modern computers and
a large format plotter. The data manager's office is on the right. |
The south classroom is our largest meeting room, and,
when set up without tables, can seat 80-100. This is where we hold our
lectures and seminars. Video projector, TV/VCR, internet, slide projector,
and overhead projector are all available. |
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The library includes the WMRS herbarium as well as
field guides and other aids to identification. There is also a collection
of 7.5' and 15' USGS quadrangles as well as other maps. |
The library also includes a manuscript'thesis collection
of work done at WMRS, as well as a reprint collection. We also are collecting
"gray literature" (reports, studies) pertaining to the Owen's
Valley and the nearby mountains. |
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WMRS hosts an official United States Geological Survey
"Field Camp" in this building. Staffed by research scientist
Angela Jayko, the building houses our geology library as well as other
collections. |
We have begun to set up an "earth processes"
lab at the station, including petrographic microscopes and other equipment.
We also have set up a rock saw for making thin sections. |
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| WMRS is the home for the "Deepest Valley Cooperative Native Plant Propagation Center". The California Native Plant Society and other volunteers use the facility to grow native plants for restoration projects. In fall they hold a native plant sale, open to the public. | |