The Department of Biology is as diverse as life itself. Over 19 faculty study biology in laboratory and field environments, with approximately 700 students who have chosen biology as their undergraduate major. They strive to provide the highest quality educational experience possible for undergraduates in which they and their mentors work together to learn and discover biology.
The Biology Department is looking to invest in a scientific growth chamber to further assist students and faculty in their research studies and educational discoveries, specifically in plant growth, genetic experimentation, and controlled plant cultivations.
What is it?
This Percival® Scientific Arabidopsis Chamber is specifically designed to facilitate the growth of Arabidopsis plants. This chamber provides users with three tiers of shelving which allow a maximum growth of 11” per tier. Users can control the interior conditions and grow their plants to maturity via the IntellusUltra™ controller, which controls the temperature, duration and intensity of light inside the chamber. The controller also enables users to create programs in four different modes as well as program lighting events. The specifically designed air diffuser inside the chamber ensures proper air circulation.
Why do we need it?
Each plant species, such as the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana and its relative A. lyrata, have specific environmental requirements for optimal growth. Some plant species require very specific conditions, such as low temperature or long days in order to thrive and flower. Such conditions cannot always be provided in a greenhouse with limited environmental control, or in the external environment of our geographical location. Programmable plant growth chambers provide such specific environmental conditions for healthy growth over extended periods of time. Growth chambers can be programmed to run at a specific temperature during daytime hours and a different one at night. They can also provide a specific daytime light intensity and to switch lights off at night to mimic light and temperature fluctuations in the plant's natural habitat. Growth chambers help ensure plants' healthy growth and blooming, reproducibility of experimental results and protection from pest infestation common in greenhouses. They are indispensable in plant research labs and for training students in plant sciences.
**YOUR GIFT WILL HAVE DOUBLE THE IMPACT**
For every gift given to this project, a friend of the College of Science and Technology will give an equal gift to this fund that will support the purchase of this instrument, up to $9,000.