"They captured that spirit we were looking for: interdisciplinary, easy flow. Lots of spaces where people can sit down and have the impromptu conversation that often lead to an exciting idea." - Roger L. Mitchell, Dean Emeritus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (MU)   "The BNIM team has been outstanding In their ability to work with our planning committee, which includes faculty from the Colleges of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, Human and Environmental Sciences Engineering and the School of Medicine. BNIM was instrumental in bringing the many voices to create a unified vision for what will be a flagship facility for our campus. In addition, they also worked closely with out in-house architectural and engineering staff to ensure the building met our rigorous design and technical requirements. I have also found their project management and design skills to be exceptional. Casey Cassias and Mark Kohles have been ensuring the design integrity of the Life Sciences Center. I have known and worked with many of the individuals at BNIM and have a great senses of security with the quality depth of staff that BNIM provides." - Robert Simmons, former University Architect for the University of Missouri system   "The Building has been set up with lots of what we call collision zones. In Chemistry when things collide you get a reaction. When two people can interact in a hall or corner discuss an idea, that's when you get new ideas and new things happening. Students see how this happens they grow and thrive under this." - Dr. G. Michael Chippendale, Ph.D.   "The Center is kind of a catalyst that brings people together doing such different things." - Mannie Liscum, Biological Sciences Professor and Associate Dean of MU's Graduate School   "The Life Sciences Center means a lot to me because I have always been interested in interdisciplinary research .I believe people work better when they have contact with other people. I believe that ideas don't just occur in back rooms or offices or even in libraries, but that they occur from people conversing with each other and discussing ideas. And so the concept of this building attracted me -- the openness, the ability of people who are essentially extroverts in their science running into each other, the idea of them also not all being in the same area but bringing in new ideas, that this would spawn a sort of innovation that you would not normally encounter in a department." - R. Micheal Roberts, LCS Scientific Director   "We have had the pleasure for working with a number of people in the firm and have a great sense of security with the quality depth of staff that BNIM provides. We have been gratified by the supportive and cooperative way they worked with us on this project. their respect for the assignment of responsibilities and their constructive contributions. They are extremely thorough and precise. We have complete confidence that the construction documents will likewise be thorough and precise and will faithfully carry out the design intent.   BNIM is known, in its own right, as a highly regarded design firm. We have been gratified by the supportive and cooperative way they have worked with us on this project, their respect for the assignment of responsibilities and their constructive contributions. They are thorough and precise. We have complete confidence that the construction documents will likewise be thorough and precise and will faithfully carry out the design intent. For BNIM, Tom Nelson is the Project Principal and Casey Cassias is the Project Manager. Both Tom and Casey have been great to work with. We have developed a strong mutual respect and a positive spirit of working together. Because of that, I am sure that Life Sciences Center will be an outstanding addition to the University of Missouri, Columbia campus." - Gregory Blackburn, AIA LEED AP