Renovation of the Plant Environmental Center Research Greenhouse

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该奖项将提供资金，为布朗大学植物环境中心的研究温室部分提供新的温度控制、通风和照明系统。资金将用于更换过时的环境控制和照明系统，采用最先进的节能蒸发冷却系统、排气扇、水平气流扇、排气马达和包括计算机控制的灯具。改造的另一个关键因素是在温室的三个房间的天花板和墙壁上添加自动节能窗帘，以在冬季提供隔热，在夏季提供遮阳，并在每个房间保持单独的光线状态。资金将用于改造实验准备区，配备更好的柜台和水槽、存储空间和照明，以促进盆栽、组织收集和温室研究项目所需的其他活动。研究温室是布朗大学唯一的同类设施，目前支持生态和进化生物学（EEB）和分子生物学，细胞生物学和生物化学系（MCB）的实验室，包括教职员工，博士后研究人员，博士生和本科生。项目使用各种各样的物种，包括参考植物拟南芥，重要的食物植物水稻，稀有和受威胁物种，以及入侵的非本地植物，以解决植物生物学中的基本问题，如植物如何与环境相互作用和适应，如何优化生殖适应性，以及如何调节发育。尽管布朗大学的植物研究人员取得了令人印象深刻的成就，但温室改造对他们的持续成功至关重要。温室基础设施的改造将通过消除季节性限制，为遗传筛选等大规模实验提供充足的生长设施，并增加可以繁殖的物种范围，从而加快植物研究。拟议改造的重要长期影响是刺激新的研究方向，吸引对植物研究感兴趣的新教师和学生。植物环境中心提供研究植物生长空间、教室空间和一个带有教学植物收藏的温室，通过研究、教育和推广来促进植物生物学。该中心吸引了对植物科学各个方面感兴趣的人，从民族植物学到生态学再到分子生物学。校园的中心位置便于学生、教师和周围社区的成员使用。温室改造将提高布朗大学植物研究在植物环境中心吸引的广大观众中的知名度。一个关键的更广泛的影响将是增加植物研究项目的本科生招聘，这是我们参与实验室的首要任务。温室改造也将有助于他们的推广工作，如当地K-12班的参观和为高中学生开发植物科学课程模块。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This award will provide funds to renovate the research greenhouse portion of the Brown University Plant Environmental Center with new temperature control, ventilation, and lighting systems. Funds will allow replacement of the outdated environmental control and lighting systems with state-of-the-art energy efficient evaporative cooling systems, exhaust fans, horizontal air flow fans, vent motors, and lamps including computerized controls. Another key element of the renovation is to add automated energy curtains to the ceilings and walls for each of the three rooms in the greenhouse to provide insulation in the winter, shading in the summer, and the ability to maintain separate light regimes in each room. Funds will permit renovation of the experimental preparation area with better counters and sinks, storage space, and lighting to facilitate potting, tissue collection, and other activities necessary for greenhouse research projects.The research greenhouse, which is the only facility of its kind at Brown, currently supports laboratories in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and the Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry (MCB), including faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. students, and undergraduates. Projects use a variety of species including the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the important food plant rice, rare and threatened species, and invasive non-native plants to address fundamental questions in plant biology such as how plants interact with and adapt to their environments, how reproductive fitness is optimized, and how development is regulated. Although plant researchers at Brown have an impressive record of accomplishments, greenhouse renovations are essential for their continued success. The greenhouse infrastructure renovations will expedite plant research by removing seasonal constraints, providing ample growth facilities for large-scale experiments such as genetic screens, and increasing the range of species that can be propagated. Important long-term ramifications of the proposed renovations are stimulating new research directions and attracting new faculty and students interested in plant research.The Plant Environmental Center provides research plant growth space, classroom space, and a conservatory with a teaching plant collection to promote plant biology through research, education, and outreach. The Center draws together people interested in all aspects of plant science ranging from ethnobotany to ecology to molecular biology. The central location on campus facilitates use by students, faculty, and members of the surrounding community. The greenhouse renovations will increase the visibility of plant research at Brown across the wide audience drawn to the Plant Environmental Center. A key broader impact will be to increase recruitment of undergraduates into plant research projects, which is a top priority in our participating laboratories. Greenhouse renovations will also aid in their outreach efforts such as visits from local K-12 classes and development of plant science curricular modules for high school students.