March 16, 2010 - Madison, WI, Mr. Randy Rozema of ACS, Inc. has been formally invited to join the Acoustical Society of America's Working Group Member for Noise and Vibration in Laboratory Animal Facilities.  As a working group member, Randy will help with development of guidelines, author technical reports, and work towards standardization pertaining to design, construction, and evaluation of vivaria and facilities for conducting laboratory research. These members represent both the acoustical and lab animal research community. 

This working group was formed because noise and vibration in laboratory animal facilities is a concern by investigators and facility directors during construction and operations.  Noise and vibration are uncontrolled environmental variables that can negatively impact animal welfare and adversely affect research outcomes.  There are few criteria or guidelines available for professionals to use for animal research.   These decisions are often based on anecdotal experiences or draw on criteria developed for human response. 

This new group represents both the acoustical community and lab animal research community.  Together, they will review the body of knowledge available, develop guidelines, and evaluate the need for standardization on multiple topics.  The proposed focus would be rodent facilities since the mouse has become the preferred model for biomedical research due to the ease with which it can be genetically manipulated.  This select group is made up of five other members who can provide expertise and knowledge within acoustics and animal labs.

ACS is proud to support Mr. Rozema in his involvement with this organization.  The tools learned from this group will be beneficial to his everyday work as ACS's Acoustical Engineer.  Randy has been a member of the Acoustic Society of America since 2004.