Sandia researchers Nerayo Teclemariam, Nate Gleason, and David Franco (left to right) review facility plans from a major U.S. airport. This review is part of the Department of Homeland Security?s BioWatch program (BioWatch Indoor Reachback Center or BIRC), an early warning system designed to rapidly detect trace amounts of biological materials at various public facilities across the United States. BioWatch assists public health experts to determine the presence and geographic extent of a biological agent release, allowing federal, state, and local officials to more quickly determine emergency response, medical care and consequence management needs.