The current greenhouse is located behind the aquaponics building and is host to over 15 different types of plants. All plants being grown in the current greenhouse are being used for research purposes and will be used by the aquaponics department. The new greenhouse will give the college more space to grow potential beneficial plants.
Lethbridge College has received over $1 million dollars in funding to help researchers pursue new types and scales of exploration in food sustainability.
The funding was originally distributed in June of 2019 and will be allocated for a new greenhouse for research in the Centre for Sustainable Food Production.
“We’ve been doing a lot of research in Aquaponics and agriculture in terms of producing food from fish nutrient. We’ve been doing this on a fairly small scale so [the new greenhouse] will allow us to research at a real business scale,” said Dr. Kenny Corscadden, Lethbridge College’s Associate Vice President of Research, in response to why the greenhouse is being built. “This is an important day for moving Lethbridge College’s applied research forward,” said Corscadden.
According to Corscadden, the new greenhouse will focus on basic leafy greens like lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes until the research demands different crops.
“We’ve been trying for this for a long time. I think there have been several iterations of grants put in over the years,” said John Derksen, chair of Aquaculture Centre. “From a teaching perspective, it gives us greenhouses where right now students are basically growing plants in classrooms, so [the greenhouse] will expand what students are able to grow.”
Along with the $1 million given to build the greenhouse an additional $147,000 of funding will be given to two college researchers.
According to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada or NSERC, this money will go towards equipment vital to their work.
Chair of the Aquaculture Centre John Derksen, says the new greenhouse will allow for a greater variety in teaching tactics.
Further discussion about the new greenhouse is scheduled to happen on Jan. 28 and will consist of design plans and construction dates.
