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

俄亥俄大学获得一项奖励，购买最先进的植物生长室，以加强和补充俄亥俄大学植物生物学研究界的研究、教学/培训和外展任务。环境与植物生物学系（PBIO）的六名研究人员和化学与生物化学系的两名研究人员及其学生将使用新的Conviron模型MTPC216多层步入式植物生长室来促进植物进化与发育，植物生态学，植物细胞壁结构和生物合成以及植物信号转导的研究，教学/培训和推广。通过此次收购，植物生长设施将重组为综合植物生长研究设施，将所有植物生长设施纳入集中管理计划，以提高研究效率。此次收购支持的研究将加强对植物进化和发育、生物质和生物能源生产的植物细胞壁成分以及土地管理措施对土壤微生物群落的影响的认识。PI和其他与该提案相关的教师坚信，本科生的研究活动和为他们提供旅行展示自己工作的机会是非常重要的。在过去，他们非常成功地利用外部资金，通过大学项目为本科生研究人员获得额外的津贴，预计目前的项目将通过教师指导的研究和在该设施工作的实习，为一些本科生提供研究机会。有了更多的植物生长空间，可以支持更多的项目来培养本科生、研究生和博士后。PI和其他教师也积极参与教学和推广活动，他们的研究是这些互动的重点。俄亥俄大学位于阿巴拉契亚山脉的山麓，25%的本科生来自俄亥俄州和西弗吉尼亚州的阿巴拉契亚地区。阿巴拉契亚学生在很大程度上是一个未被认可和服务不足的少数群体。在新生班级中，31%是第一代大学生，27%是获得经济资助的第一代大学生。这些学生通过课堂和在研究实验室单独工作，接触到研究实验室中可用的技术。学院PI和高级师资每年讲授35门课程，学生达3000余人。他们每年通过外展活动和社区服务，比如“校园里的孩子”，为俄亥俄州阿森斯县的贫困儿童提供服务。随着这个生长室的增加，教师将能够增加这些活动和这些活动的质量。

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.