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New Ohio ATI labs to benefit multiple programs, including ag
 
By SUSAN MYKRANTZ
Ohio Correspondent
 
WOOSTER, Ohio — Although the newly dedicated Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) Greenhouse and Construction and Landscape Laboratory are designed to meet the needs of the students in those programs, ultimately their design features will benefit students in other programs as well.
 
When the first greenhouses were built at ATI in Wooster, the current crop of students hadn’t even been born. At the beginning of this school year, construction began on a 6,000 square-foot stateof-the-art greenhouse to replace the old poly houses.

The facilities were dedicated at the close of the school year, in preparation for the newly designed Greenhouse Engineering Technology program. The program will teach students the concepts they need to operate a greenhouse using the latest technology.

“The construction of this greenhouse is very timely,” said Dr. David Benfield, director of the Wooster Campus of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. “The greenhouse and nursery industry in Ohio has undergone tremendous growth and it makes up about 11 percent of Ohio’s agricultural economy.”

He told faculty, staff and local industry and government officials attending the dedication that it will be exciting to see what kind of programs are developed to improve the lives of people in Ohio.

Also on hand for the dedication were Dr. Kristina Boone, director of ATI, and Dr. Cathann Kress, vice president for Agricultural Administration and dean of the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Science. “This is an exciting day for us,” Boone said. “Experiential learning facilities are the cornerstone of our institution.”

Kress said ATI is one of the gems of the university’s program. “These new facilities will add to the school’s portfolio and ensure that students get the experience that is right for them,” she said.

The structure is designed with three distinct cells that can be controlled individually to meet the needs of the crop in the cell. The light exclusion house is designed with blackout curtains that can be opened and closed to control the light needs of the crop being produced – such as poinsettias, which require shorter daylight hours.

Another cell is the propagation cell that will be used for plants with few specific requirements for growth.

The third unit is the hydroponic house, which will be pressed into service with the addition of a class on hydroponic production this fall, according to Dr. Uttara Samarakoon, the coordinator of the Greenhouse and Nursery Management program.

She explained that with the increasing interest in locally grown produce comes the need to have crops to meet that demand. vegetables such as lettuce and tomatoes are the most common crops raised hydroponically, but researchers are also looking at finding varieties of leafy green vegetables that can be raised in a hydroponic system.

“The students do their labs here and they do their practicums here, as well,” Samarakoon said. ”We want to expose them to a variety of experiences that they will see in the industry,”  Nathan Donley, greenhouse manager, said the new facility features a Wadsworth Seed Control system. This can run heating, cooling and lighting for any number of zones simply by pressing a button on the control panel.

And while the greenhouse facility is fully automated, it still needs to be programmed to meet the requirements for water, air and lighting.

“We still need to have eyes on the crops,” said Donley. Royce Thornton, chair of the Agricultural and Engineering Technologies Division, shared his enthusiasm for features in the new facilities that will benefit students in the livestock programs. He said the shade curtains used on the light exclusion cell can also be used in livestock facilities to protect animals from excessive heat in the summer. He noted the evaporative cooling system in the facility is similar to those found in pork and poultry facilities. 
 
Thornton explained evaporative cooling works by circulating cool air over the livestock and lowers the ambient temperature to prevent heat stress during periods of hot weather.

Also dedicated was the new construction and landscape laboratory. Ben King, coordinator for the Construction Management and Construction Systems Management programs, said the construction and landscape laboratory will give students opportunity to work with materials and techniques they would use on a construction job. It will also allow them to apply ideas they learn in the classroom.

King credited Dr. James Kinder, the former interim director of the school, for his support of the facility construction. “Dr. Kinder saw a need to get this facility on campus to serve the program here.”

Dr. Laura Deeter, coordinator for the Landscape Horticulture program, said the laboratory will give students the chance to practice their classroom theories. “Landscaping is an outdoor activity,” she said, “but the students need a space, particularly in bad weather, to practice skills they will need in the industry.” 
5/24/2017