Brown has received a $650,000 stimulus grant from the National Science Foundation to renovate the research facilities and infrastructure of its Plant Environmental Center, according to Director Fred Jackson. Judith Bender, professor of biology and principal investigator for the grant, said she hopes this funding will generate major interest in the greenhouse and vastly increase the scope of research that professors and graduate students can perform in the 23,000-square-foot facility, which is located at 91 Waterman St.
Jackson commented on the "timeliness" of the grant, explaining that the controls for the center have not been updated since he began work at Brown 18 years ago. This "next big step" is essential, he said. Fortuitously, according to Jackson, the greenhouse renovation proposal "fit the bill perfectly." After winning Brown's internal competition to select which proposal would be submitted, the proposal received funding from the NSF.
The renovation, which will include the addition of a high-tech computer system to control the greenhouse's environment, three shade covers to create control zones and act as energy curtains, and a new preparation area, will begin in summer 2010 and take three to six months to complete, according to Jackson and Bender. Both said they were optimistic and excited, as Jackson explains that "this grant will allow us to be a competitive, state-of-the-art facility that will open the doors to more NSF grants for research."
