The facility is a state-of-the-art plant pathogen containment facility, named in honour of the late Dr Ross Ewen Beever – an eminent plant pathologist, mycologist natural historian and mentor.
The facility is the only one of its kind in New Zealand and its primary function is a transitional and containment facility for insects, micro-organisms and cell cultures.
As well as weed biocontrol studies, the facility is also suitable for safely undertaking research into exotic plant pathogens that pose a threat to native flora (e.g. kauri dieback PTA) and the primary sector (e.g. kiwifruit Psa bacterium).
Other biosecurity and research organisations including the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), other CRIs, universities, overseas research institutes, businesses, and private individuals also use the facility.
