MRI: Acquisition of controlled-environment chambers for integrative botanical research and training at UT-Tyler

该奖项资助购买一套用于植物实验的步入式受控环境室。它们配备了温度，湿度，光周期，照明和CO2控制。多达13，500株植物将有效地适应这些室，允许在一年中的任何时候进行实验，包括德克萨斯州炎热的夏天。由这些室实现的综合植物研究计划将跨越生物学的许多子学科，包括细胞生物学，分子生物学，发育生物学，生理学，生态学，进化和遗传学。这些室将对整个德克萨斯州东北部的植物生物学研究产生刺激作用，该地区拥有100多万人口，有几所大学和学院，但几乎没有环境控制植物实验的设施。这些室的主要用户与农业上重要的植物家族合作，他们的工作对农业有直接或间接的影响。此外，这些实验室的研究可以在不同的气候情景下进行，包括二氧化碳水平和温度的升高。本科生和研究生将被分配到室内的空间，从事这些和其他项目，为未来的科学家，农民和土地管理者提供宝贵的培训机会。这些发现将通过科学出版物、教师和学生在区域和国家会议上的演讲以及向当地媒体发布新闻稿进行宣传，这些媒体对新闻报道的门槛较低，受众众多。

This award funds the acquisition of a set of walk-in controlled-environment chambers for plant experimentation. They are equipped with temperature, humidity, photoperiod, lighting, and CO2 controls. Up to 13,500 plants will efficiently fit into these chambers, allowing experiments at all times of the year, including the hot Texas summers. The integrative plant research programs enabled by these chambers will span many sub-disciplines in biology, including cellular biology, molecular biology, developmental biology, physiology, ecology, evolution, and genetics. These chambers will have a stimulating effect on plant biology research throughout Northeast Texas, a region with over one million people that has several universities and colleges but that has almost no facilities for environmentally controlled plant experiments. The primary users for these chambers work with agriculturally important plant families, and their work has either direct or indirect implications for agriculture. Furthermore, the research in these chambers can be conducted under different climate scenarios, including increased CO2 levels and temperatures. Undergraduates and graduate students will be allocated space in the chambers to work on these and other projects, providing invaluable training opportunities for future scientists, farmers, and land managers. These findings will be publicized by scientific publications, faculty and student presentations at regional and national meetings, and press releases to local media outlets, which have low barriers to news coverage and large audiences.