The future of Duke's Biology Greenhouse, currently home to both research and collections facilities, has been a topic of debate since plans were unveiled for the new $115 million French Science Center, which will be built at the Greenhouse's current location between the Physics and Biological Sciences buildings.
The University has already begun construction on a new greenhouse research facility, located in the back parking lot of BioSci, that is scheduled to be complete by this summer. However, plans for a separate collections greenhouse, also known as the teaching greenhouse, have been put on hold due to funding issues.
Executive Vice President Tallman Trask said the administration is working to create an affordable plan of action to replace the initial proposal for the collections facility.
"We're going to have a collections space," Trask said. "I don't think it's going to be as fancy as initially proposed, but it's a tradeoff [between research and display]."
Trask explained that the money saved on cutting some costs associated with an extensive collections greenhouse could instead go to building five to 10 more laboratories in the French Science Center. He emphasized that since the plans for the French Science Center were only recently approved, there are still many explorable options regarding the greenhouse facilities.
Dean of Natural Sciences Berndt Mueller noted that although plans for a collections facility are currently stalled, the displacement of the Greenhouse by the French Science Center comes with significant benefits. The current greenhouse structures are outdated, he said, noting that funding from the French Science Center project has allowed the University to replace the old research greenhouse with a state-of-the-art facility.
With plans to build an expanded research greenhouse, officials anticipate having enough room in this facility to house the most-used specimens from the collections greenhouse. Mueller acknowledged, however, that a separate collections greenhouse will still be necessary in the long term.
"The school is still committed to finding additional funds to build a separate collections greenhouse in a timely manner," Mueller said.
Marcia Kirinus, manager of the Biology Greenhouse, said the collections greenhouse is an important core facility for the biology department and for the University as a whole.
"Over 700 students have visited the teaching greenhouse this semester alone, and these facilities serve many researchers as well," Kirinus said.
Kathleen Pryer, assistant professor of biology, is one of the many teachers who make use of the collections greenhouse in their classes. She explained that she uses the greenhouse in a biology class for non-majors by taking her students to the facility, encouraging them to explore the greenhouse on their own and bringing samples from the greenhouse back to the classroom.
The results of such activities, she said, have been tangible.
"Most students tell me that their exposure to the greenhouse is a very positive experience," Pryer said.
Sophomore Iris Bierlein, who went to the greenhouse as a part of Pryer's class, said that as part of a class project she studied a plant from the collections greenhouse, gaining valuable hands-on experience.
"I really appreciated having the opportunity to go to the greenhouse, and if it weren't for [that] class I don't know that I would have taken advantage of this resource," Bierlein said.
Pryer explained that the collections greenhouse is valuable, not only for the opportunities it affords students, but also for the prestige it lends to the University. Duke's current collections greenhouse is one of the most established and renowned facilities of its kind in the nation.
Pryer said she was hopeful that the University will ensure adequate space for the teaching collection in the future.
Although exact plans for the collections greenhouse are still unclear, Kirinus is optimistic that the collections greenhouse will remain a priority for the University.
"We have been fortunate in the past to have [forward-looking], effective leadership that carried the plant collections through some hard times," she said. "We're hoping that today's leaders will see the value of these plants and can help carry them forward."
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