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History of the Salinity Lab
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In 1947,
our Laboratory
was on the
other side of town

From 1947 to 1995, the United States Salinity Laboratory (USSL) occupied 10 acres south of Mount Rubidoux in central Riverside. The Facility was housed in seven buildings containing approximately 11 laboratories, two large greenhouses, a rhizotron, environmental chambers, lysimeters, plant culture beds, outdoor plots, and constant temperature rooms.
 
Most of the research could be accomplished at Riverside, but investigations requiring full-scale field situations were undertaken in areas such as the San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys of California, the Wellton Mohawk Irrigation District in Arizona, and Grand Valley in Colorado. The original Rubidoux Laboratory building is now occupied by the University of California Water Resources Center.   small image of old Lab
Administration/Chemistry Building (circa 1947)
enlargement
 
In October 1992, ground was broken for the construction of the U. S. Salinity Laboratory on a seven acre site adjacent to the Botanical Gardens on the campus of the University of California, Riverside.
 
Salinity Lab south view
view from the South
Our new state-of-the-art laboratory, completed in April 1995, has consolidated all research units, including the Pesticide Research unit, formerly located with the UCR Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, into one main facility. In addition to offices, the building houses:
  • 18 laboratories
  • Constant temperature rooms
  • Specialty rooms
  • Climate controlled rhizotron
  • Lysimeters
  • Sand tank facilities
  • Mechanical, electrical, and wood shops
 
greenhouses and environmental chambers
four greenhouses and three environmental chambers are conveniently attached to the main building
 
Salinity Lab entrance east view
view of the entrance from the East
 
The U. S. Salinity Laboratory was renamed January 21, 2000 in memory of
Congressman George E, Brown, Jr. (March 6, 1920 - July 15, 1999)
 
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Laboratory Naming Ceremony
Color photos by Mark Cliath