9317890 Olmstead The proposed project will provide upgraded modern greenhouse facilities thereby permitting research activities presently unavailable. Specifically, a 762 m2 (8200 ft2) greenhouse will be erected and equipped as follows: two rooms will be environmentally equipped to accommodate alpine research; environmental controls will be computerized to allow monitoring and integration of systems with greater accuracy as well as data collection of greenhouse environments; high intensity discharge (HID) lighting will be added for supplementing and controlling photoperiod; additional greenhouse systems will be added, such as humidification in additional rooms, automatic watering systems and black-out cloth in some sections; the headhouse will be equipped with an office and storage room; the greenhouse will be equipped with an aquatic tank to permit research on aquatic organisms; a protected outdoor growing area (lath house) will be constructed; additional minor modifications to electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems will permit more efficient operation of the facility. The proposed systems have become commonplace in academic research institutions. The above equipment and modifications would upgrade the facility to accommodate research on plants and other organisms living in alpine environments. In addition, a variety of research areas investigated in EPO Biology would be better served through more accurate control of environments as well as greater capabilities within a given environment. With the present facility, a limited amount of space and number of environments are available using outdated control systems a nd, in some cases, inadequate equipment. The improved facility would be more versatile, permitting researchers to accurately set the environment within the greenhouses. Current research benefiting from these improvements would include work on photoprotection and photosynthesis, plant community ecology and population biology, plant-insect interactions, evolution and ecology of plant herbivore interactions, trace gas emissions, molecular phylogenetics and population genetics. With upgrading under the current multi-user biological equipment program, the goals of the Department and University would be enhanced in the following ways: 1. increased ability to simulate natural environments, monitor history of environments and fine-tune research requirements as well as research directions 2. provide for a more integrated and versatile facility that reflects the needs of researchers and students, compared to plant sciences in peer institutions 3. increased efficiency, permitting operation of the facility with greater accuracy and with less wasted time and effort The improved greenhouse and support buildings would be attractive to current and new faculty researchers and greater numbers of students because faculty and students in plant sciences require facilities that permit the observation and formulation of questions based on living plants. Research that seeks to understand plant adaptations to various parameters controlling plant growth, plant chemical ecology. allocation patterns, development, and molecular evolution, to name a few, is facilitated by the ability to cultivate organisms in an indoor environment in Colorado. Potential new students and faculty will be more inclined to select an institution that has both the space for research and a facility in which meaningful research can be learned and performed easily. 9317890 Olmstead The proposed project will provide upgraded modern greenhouse facilities t hereby permitting research activitie E o q = ? E ! ! ! ! ! F E E ( Times New Roman Symbol & Arial " h 5 % % # 5 Deseree King, BIR Deseree King, BIR
