McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity - 2004 - Gainesville, FL - Dated Architectural Structures Multifarious on Waymarking.com

"In 2000, William W. McGuire, then CEO of UnitedHealth Group, gave a $4.2 million gift to establish the William W. and Nadine M. McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. This gift was one of the largest private gifts ever given to foster research on insects and was matched from the State of Florida Alec Courtelis Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant Program. The McGuires later gave another $3 million to fund final construction of the center. This new $12 million facility for Lepidoptera research and public exhibits opened in August 2004.

The center houses a collection of more than ten million butterfly and moth specimens, making it one of the largest collections of Lepidoptera in the world, rivaling that of the Natural History Museum in London, England. The collection includes extinct species. It started with around four million specimens, with space for significant further expansion. The collection brings together those from the Allyn Museum in Sarasota, other University of Florida collections, and the State of Florida's Division of Plant Industry collections.

The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity serves both research and public education functions. The center includes the living Butterfly Rainforest and exhibit space that features information about Lepidoptera and rain forests worldwide, as well as 39,000 square feet (3,600 m2) of research laboratories and collection space.

The research space includes laboratories focusing on molecular genetics, scanning electron microscopy, image analysis, conservation and captive propagation of endangered species, optical microscopy and specimen preparation, as well as classrooms and offices for 12 faculty curators, collection managers and other staff. Some of the research laboratories and collection can be viewed through glass panels at the back of the museum."

--Wikipedia (visit link)

Year built or dedicated as indicated on the structure or plaque: 2004 Full Inscription (unless noted above): William W. and Nadine M. McGuire McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity 2004 Website (if available): [Web Link]

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