Savannah River Ecology Lab, once targeted for closure by the U.S. Energy Department, is more than meeting its new mission of seeking out funding through grants and outside sources.

"Right now, as far as funding, we're a little over $2 million for the fiscal year that ends this October," said University of Georgia research scientist Carl Bergmann, who became SREL's director in June 2007. "I've been very pleased."

Projections were that the lab -- which once employed 110 and had an $8 million budget -- would operate with just $1.6 million this fiscal year, he said.

"All the different divisions of DOE and WSRC (Westinghouse Savannah River Company) have been very supportive in trying to help us obtain funding, wherever appropriate," he said, adding that Savannah River National Laboratory and other entities also have tapped into the lab's pool of talent and expertise.

The 54-year-old lab -- which earned international acclaim for its studies of the effects of nuclear weapons production on wildlife and the environment -- is seeking funding through grants and outside sources, Dr. Bergmann said.

Research grants from outside sources take longer to obtain, but many are being pursued, he said.

"When I started this job I was hoping to apply for one external grant a month and it's closer to two right now. At this point it's looking good for next year."

For fiscal 2009, SREL hopes to garner $2.2 million in funding and perhaps as much as $2.6 million, he said.

Efforts to drum up new support and new funding for the facility included a recent symposium with 70 scientists from 17 states and several countries who once studied or worked at SREL.

"It was fantastic to have all these people here at one time," said Whit Gibbons, a senior ecologist at the lab and retired University of Georgia professor. "Some of them had worked on the same projects, but in different decades."

Visitors came from as far as Mexico, Costa Rica and Australia -- and represented entities such as the Smithsonian Institution, major universities and government agencies.

Bringing so many scientists back to SREL to help think of new and better ways to use all the data is just one way the lab hopes to find new and more challenging missions, Dr. Gibbons said.

For now, the lab, its 60 remaining employees and its animal collection remain intact. Even Stumpy, the lab's venerable, 630-pound alligator -- and unofficial mascot -- is well cared for.

"In fact, we just fed him an armadillo," Dr. Gibbons said. "A dead one of course."