Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Plants are reliable sources of food, medicine, and material from which humans have depended on for thousands of years. With the world's population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and global warming causing visible climate change effects, the sustainability of agriculture and plant diversity is critical for the environment and our human needs. Research in plant biology is central in addressing these critical problems in our society. Plant biology research at the University of Calgary is internationally recognized. There is fundamental research strength in plant biochemistry, evolutionary biology, plant diversity, cell biology, physiology, cell signalling and genomics. Additionally, there is extensive focus on applied research projects aimed at enhancing plant stress tolerance, increasing value added traits, and developing approaches to environmental phytoremediation. Climate controlled growth chambers are an essential infrastructural component that supports research initiatives that contribute to the sustainability of our environment and ecosystems, and enhance ag-biotech research aimed at producing stress tolerant and value-added crops. ***The Plant Growth Facility at the U of C consists of environmentally controlled growth chambers and greenhouses. The greenhouse space is adequate for producing teaching material, but does not meet our needs for the production of high quality, controlled growth of research material. Thus we depend on growth chambers for our research needs. Approximately half of the growth chambers are 35 to 45 years old and all but one of the remaining chambers are almost 20 years old. The older chambers are unreliable and are in the process of being decommissioned. ***Funds are requested for the purchase of three replacement plant growth chambers (each with 1.5 m2 growing area) that will be used to accommodate the diverse plant biology research that is ongoing at the U of C. This research involves numerous model and crop species (e.g., canola, rice, wheat, tobacco, lettuce, Arabidopsis, etc.) as well as non-crop species (willow and many native plant species used in our diversity research). The applicants have a strong track record of training graduate students that have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. HQP are trained in a positive and forward-thinking research environment, where trainees are creative, interactive and contribute to high level research. The purchase of these plant growth chambers will provide critical infrastructure to more than 15 research faculty at the U of C. This equipment will enable these researchers to address critical questions related to agriculture, the environment, fundamental science and pharmaceuticals/nutriceuticals, and help train our next generation of young scientists.**