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

俄亥俄大学被授予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社区的研究、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将与他们的学生一起使用新的Conviron型号MTPC216多层免入式植物生长室，以促进在植物进化和发育、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方面的研究、教学/培训和推广。通过此次收购，植物生长设施将被重组为一个综合植物生长研究设施，将所有植物生长设施纳入一个集中管理计划，以提高研究生产率。这项收购支持的研究将增强有关植物进化和发展、用于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知识。PI和其他与此建议相关的教职员工坚信为本科生开展研究活动，并为他们提供旅行介绍工作的机会。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津贴，预计目前的项目将通过教员指导的研究和在该设施工作的实习为几名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用于本科生、研究生和博士后培训。PI和其他教员也大量参与教学和外展，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脚下，25%的本科生来自周边的阿巴拉契亚地区俄亥俄州和西弗吉尼亚州。阿巴拉契亚学生是一个在很大程度上没有得到承认和服务不足的少数群体。在大一新生中，31%是第一代大学生，27%是接受资助的第一代大学生。这些学生通过课堂和在研究实验室的个别工作接触到研究实验室可用的技术。结合PI和高级人员，每年教授~35门课程，覆盖3000多名学生。他们通过外展活动和社区服务，如俄亥俄州阿森斯县为贫困儿童而设的“校园里的孩子”计划，每年接触到额外的2000人。教职员工将能够通过增加这个生长室来增加这些活动以及这些活动的质量。

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.