A new walk-in growth chamber at the University of Wyoming’s Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility will allow UW researchers to advance photobiology, a rapidly growing subfield in plant science that explores how light quality influences plant growth, development, and resource-use efficiency.
Funding from the state of Wyoming enabled the addition of the Conviron walk-in chamber, designed to support advanced studies in light manipulation, nutrient uptake, and plant-environment interactions.
Unlike older chambers with fixed broad-spectrum lighting, the new system allows researchers to adjust red, blue, and far-red wavelengths, opening new avenues for studying photosynthetic efficiency, morphogenesis, and metabolic responses.
“Our facility is a result of shared commitment between the university and the state to research, innovate, and spur cross-disciplinary discovery,” says Carmela Rosaria Guadagno, the director of the UW Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility as well as the Center for Controlled Environment Agriculture. “With tunable lighting, the possibilities for discovery are endless.”
The Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility, on the fifth floor of UW’s Science Initiative Building, is a 6,400-square-foot research hub designed to accelerate discovery in controlled environment agriculture and plant science. The facility reflects Wyoming’s growing investment in agricultural research and the university’s vision to integrate interdisciplinary innovation under one roof.
Although the facility officially opened in 2024, its roots trace back to an earlier greenhouse project with a handful of growth chambers. As interest in controlled environment agriculture and phenotyping expanded across campus, the need for a more customizable research environment became clear.
The new walk-in chamber offers flexibility and scalability for experiments requiring precise control of environmental factors. Planned applications include automated imaging systems for high-throughput phenotyping; a hydroponic system for controlled nutrient studies; and multi-spectrum, tunable lighting for photobiology research.
“For us, controlled environment agriculture means tuning the environment to suit the crop, so the possibilities are broad,” Guadagno says. “In the past year, we’ve grown everything from strawberries and tomatoes to eggplant, okra, leafy greens, pine seedlings, and native Wyoming plants. The growth chambers and greenhouse can support nearly any system or species, and it’s all about configuring the environment for the research goal.”
About the Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility
UW’s Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility combines state-of-the-art, Argus-controlled greenhouses, the Conviron walk-in growth chamber, and laboratory spaces to support a continuum of plant research—from molecular studies to applied crop production. The greenhouse complex includes 12 bays equipped for precise environmental control of temperature, relative humidity, irrigation, carbon dioxide, and lighting. An adjacent research penthouse houses advanced growth chambers and instrumentation for phenotyping and physiological analysis.
The facility is led by Guadagno and Michael Baldwin, an assistant research scientist and the facility manager. Together, they oversee a platform designed for diverse applications, including plant physiology, photobiology, hydroponics, and robotics, enabling researchers to explore how plants respond to environmental variables in controlled settings.
While plant science is at the core, the facility fosters collaboration across engineering, genetics, microbiology, and even business. Engineering teams, for example, contribute to sensor development and automation systems, integrating technology with plant biology to optimize controlled environments.
The facility also serves as a hands-on learning platform, integrating growth chambers and greenhouses into coursework and research training. Students gain hands-on experience with environmental control systems, sensor technologies, and phenotyping tools, preparing them for careers in agriculture technology, plant research, and controlled environment agriculture industries.
To learn more about the Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility, go to www.uwyo.edu/science-initiative/plant-facility/index.html.
