$90,000 corporate grant expands greenhouse

The greenhouse on the top floor of Bannow will have the same technology as large state schools enabling private and government agricultural research, according to Raymond Poincelot, professor of biology and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

United Technologies Corporation’s Carrier Corporation will be giving Fairfield University $90,000 over three years, each year subject to renewal, to help enhance and renovate the greenhouse.

“It’s going to be updated incredibly,” said Poincelot.

A majority of the money will be spent on equipment and upgrades such as vents, flooring, heating, humidification, shading, and air conditioning. These features will control the temperature, humidity and other environmental factors.

These new modifications will allow students and professors “to closely control and monitor the environment within the greenhouse, enabling them to conduct higher level experiments than were previously possible,” according to Poincelot.

The level of control will enable students and professors to “hold all factors constant except for those they are testing,” according to Poincelot.

For instance, being able to measure the effect of a hormone on a plant’s growth without concern that variations in temperature and environment were the actual cause of any changes, he said.

“Carrier is excited about seeing the greenhouse renovated so that the students and professors will have state-of-the-art equipment enabling them to produce more reliable results to benefit our environment,” said Carrier President, Geraud Darnis.

Tod Osier, assistant biology professor, who has his own research projects investing the chemicals that plants produce to protect themselves from insects, plans to integrate the greenhouse into his introductory biology course among others.

“It will really expand research and teaching opportunities,” said Osier. “It’s a great boon to the department.”

Overall response to the generous grant has been appreciative and positive. Timothy Law Snyder, dean of College of Arts and Sciences, said that “the generosity, vision, and expertise of Carrier Corporation allow Fairfield’s greatest resource, our faculty and students, to extend their learning and discovery.”