This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This project is the renovation of a highly used greenhouse research facility at the University of California, Irvine. The renovations will include: replacing earthen floors with concrete for pest control, replacing benches that are presently rotting and corroding, replacing outdated evaporative coolers, improving lighting to allow more research to extend into the winter months, adding a new transformer and electrical wiring, and sub-dividing the greenhouse to provide chambers that can be controlled independently, and accessed directly, without requiring investigator travel through the adjacent research areas in order to avoid cross-contamination of disease and pests.
The renovated facility will support a large group of researchers from the School of Biological Sciences, particularly from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, as well as researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences. The greenhouse will be used for research in areas that include evolution, genomics, ecology, ecophysiology, plant-insect interactions and global change biology. The renovation will make it possible to perform manipulative plant experiments under controlled conditions that are beyond what is possible in the current facility.
The renovated facility will provide an increased number of opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctoral associates to participate in research.
(UCI). The greenhouses were in poor condition and deteriorating rapidly. They lacked proper lighting and temperature control, as well as appropriate flooring and drainage. Yet, despite its deplorable condition, it served as the site for the research and training efforts of numerous faculty across the UCI campus, with research projects spanning disciplines that include evolution, genomics, ecology, ecophysiology and development. The greenhouse also played a substantive role in research training, playing a role in training > 30 undergraduate and graduate students per annum. The ARRA proposal detailed a plan to both renovate and modify the greenhouse structures. The modifications included partitioning existing space into two rooms; these rooms were designed to better support researchers with varied research interests and goals. In addition, many aspects of the greenhouse facility were upgraded, including the flooring, which used to be gravel and is now concrete with appropriate drainage; structural supports, which were badly rusted; the electrical system, which was upgraded for new lighting; the climate control system and the lighting. The renovated greenhouse has been fully functional since July 1013 and is currently hosting the research activities of eight faculty and their trainees. Ongoing research in the greenhouse includes investigation of trophic interactions, competition for water in ecological restoration, plant defense strategies against herbivores, fungal-plant interactions and mating system evolution.
