Jenan Noureddine, a PhD candidate in U of T Scarborough's department of biological sciences, examines plants being grown indoors under a growth lamp (all photos by Don Campbell)
In the basement of the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Science Research Building are four chambers that look like industrial walk-in fridges in a restaurant – but they’re high-tech labs where biologists are conducting plant experiments that could one day lead to more resilient food crops.
Located in the building’s Plant Growth Facility, these newly installed chambers are equipped to mimic different types of growing conditions, with researchers able to control heat, humidity and light intensity as well as speed and direction of wind inside the chambers – enabling them to test the effects of stressors such as drought, heat and infections on plant growth.
There’s even an astronomical clock that can recreate the average amount of sunlight during different times of year in any part of the world.
