MRI: Acquisition of a Controlled Environment Plant Growth Chamber to Enhance Plant Growth Facilities at Ohio University

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An award is made to Ohio University to purchase a state-of-the-art Plant Growth Chamber to enhance and supplement the research, teaching/training, and outreach missions of the plant biology research community at Ohio University. Six research faculty in the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology (PBIO) and two research faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and their students will use the new Conviron model MTPC216 multi-tier, walk-in plant growth chamber to facilitate research, teaching/training, and outreach in plant evolution and development, plant ecology, plant cell wall structure and biosynthesis, and plant signal transduction. With this acquisition, the plant growth facilities will be reorganized into a Comprehensive Plant Growth Research Facility, bringing all plant growth facilities under a centralized management plan to increase research productivity. Research supported by this acquisition will enhance knowledge of plant evolution and development, plant cell wall components for biomass and bioenergy production, and the impacts of land management practices on soil microbial communities.The PI and other faculty associated with this proposal believe strongly in research activities for undergraduates and in providing opportunities for them to travel to present their work. In the past, they have been very successful in leveraging external funding to obtain additional stipends for undergraduate researchers through university programs, and it is anticipated that the current project will support research opportunities for several undergraduates through faculty-mentored research and internships working in the Facility. With more plant growth space, additional projects can be supported for undergraduate, graduate and post doc training. The PI and other faculty are also heavily involved in teaching and outreach, and their research is the focus of these interactions. Ohio University is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and draws 25% of its undergraduate population from the surrounding Appalachian region of Ohio and West Virginia. Appalachian students are a largely unrecognized and under-served minority group. Of the freshman class, 31% are 1st-generation college students and 27% are 1st-generation college students receiving financial aid. These students are exposed to technology available in the research laboratories through both the classroom and working individually in research laboratories. Combined the PI and senior personnel teach ~35 courses annually, reaching over 3000 students. They reach an additional 2000 people/year through outreach activities and community service like "Kids on Campus," a program for under-privileged children in Athens County, Ohio. The faculty will be able to increase these activities and the quality of these activities with the addition of this growth chamber.