USA: New high-tech greenhouse facility opens to researchers

At the top floor of UC Riverside’s new Plant Research 1 building, geneticist Julia Bailey-Serres is testing how to grow rice to withstand drought and flooding conditions in countries like India. In the laboratory next to her, researcher Bao-Lam Huynh is growing new varieties of cowpea plants that will be sent to Africa. Their work takes advantage of the new technology available to researchers at the 30,000-square-foot, two-story facility at the west end of campus. The College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, May 5, to celebrate its opening. The concrete, glass, and steel building is the first new plant research facility constructed on campus in about 40 years and features new state-of-the-art technology. The new building replaced an older greenhouse made of wooden slats on the one-acre site. CNAS Dean Kathryn Uhrich said the facility achieves the college’s goals of furthering sustainability, inclusivity, and excellence. “After many years ...