Bilby Research Center

Northern Arizona University dedicated the Bilby Research Center in 1981 in honor of Flagstaff businessman and Regent Ralph Bilby. NAU designed this mini-dome to resemble the larger Walkup Skydome. The building contains movable interior walls to allow various configurations depending on faculty needs.

Over the years, the Bilby Center has provided space for multidisciplinary research projects in fields such as forest entomology, geoscience and paleontology. In 2004, the Machine Perception Lab researched the potential for a computer mouse that quadriplegics could operate, as well as the feasibility of a universal remote control to operate all appliances within a home.

The Bilby Research Center currently houses the Navajo Nation Archaeology Division and the Hopi Tribal Water Resources Program. Bilby also contains anthropology, paleoecology and environmental mercury labs.