Michigan State University Breaks Ground on Plant and Environmental Sciences Building

Michigan State University broke ground in October of 2024 on the $200 million Plant and Environmental Sciences Building in East Lansing. Designed by HED and CannonDesign, the 200,000-sf facility will accelerate the discovery and development of global solutions for food security. Approximately 40 principal investigators and their teams will occupy the structure, which will feature leading-edge wet labs, growth chambers, and instrumentation suites. The Center for Advanced Microscopy will enable high-resolution plant visualization and analysis, complemented by seed storage areas to safeguard long-term biodiversity. A rooftop phytotron, the fourth of its kind in the nation, will be capable of regulating temperature, humidity, light, and carbon dioxide levels to simulate precise climate conditions.

Faculty members from both the College of Natural Science and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources will be collocated in the building rather than dispersed across multiple locations. The Plant Resilience Institute will have operations in the facility, as well as the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Energy. Flexible workspaces will drive innovation in agricultural science through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Completion is expected by December of 2026.