A new science building, which will provide new facilities for the biology program, is currently under construction.This dramatic 42,000-square-foot building, which broke ground in spring 2005, is an expansion of the campus space devoted to biology and computer laboratories as well as science lecture halls and classrooms. Rafael Viñoly Architects, a New York City firm, designed the building, which will be completed in spring 2007. Click here for a picture of the building.

The main floor of the new Center will house three large, self-contained "smart" classrooms—their circular walls extending into the lobby—and an auditorium, capable of seating 65 to 80 people. Labs lining the entire western side of the building will be framed by glass walls and will overlook woods leading down a slope to Annandale Road, whose curves will be paralleled by the science building's fluid lines. The second floor will feature a suspended walkway. This level will include biology, computer science, and mathematics faculty offices, cantilevered above the lobby, with solid glass walls that will echo those on the opposite side of the building. Bridges will link the walkway to open spaces atop the three protruding classrooms. Students may use these spaces for studying, computer work, and informal conversations. Such meeting places are designed to emphasize the close-knit quality of educational culture at Bard, providing areas for quiet study while simultaneously opening up opportunities for students to connect with other students and faculty.

The Biology Program is currently housed in Hegeman Science Hall, which contains faculty offices, classrooms, and laboratories. The adjacent wing, the David Rose Science Laboratories, houses the Ludwig Neugarten Biology Center and teaching and student research laboratories. Hegeman was recently renovated through grants from the W. K. Keck Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The facilities of the Bard College Field Station are also used by students of ecology and environmental science. The Field Station, built in 1971, is on the Hudson River near Tivoli South Bay and the mouth of the Saw Kill. Its location affords research and teaching access to freshwater tidal marshes, swamps and shallows, perennial and intermittent streams, young and old deciduous and coniferous forests, old and mowed fields, and other habitats. A library, herbarium, laboratories, classroom, and offices are used by undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.