When thinking about residence halls on campus, Battelle Hall does not usually come to mind. There are no dorm rooms, no RAs, and the bathrooms are semi-clean. But just because humans do not live there does not mean nothing lives there at all.
The greenhouse connected to Battelle Hall spans sections of two of the building’s floors and is home to numerous plants. Students and faculty alike use the facility in conjunction with classes on ecology, science by inquiry, and biology, among others.
“Students are able to do research in the greenhouse, whether that’s for symposium or just personal research projects,” said sophomore Miriam McCarty.
Students are able to get a closer view at the reproduction, growth, and structure of the different plants, the majority of which are tropical plants and cacti. Lab coordinator Angie Stidham describes it as “extended classroom lab space.”
However useful it may be as a research tool, the greenhouse has other uses as well.
“The professors and the students also use the greenhouse for aesthetic purposes,” said McCarty. “… They do grow a lot of the plants in there to just have them and have an aesthetic part of campus.”
While there is not currently any food growing in the greenhouse, attempts to grow plants with the intent of a harvest have been made in the past. The most recent endeavor was made by professor of biological and environmental sciences, Alan Stam.
“Dr. Stam was actually in contact with the MDR [Main Dining Room] a couple of years ago because people in the MDR really wanted to start growing herbs and fruits and vegetables… “ said McCarty. However, this plan did not get very far.
McCarty relayed exactly why attempts to grow food in the past have fallen through: “The greenhouse had some problems with temperature regulations… it just needs some more mechanical updating. It really wouldn’t be ideal to grow food [in the greenhouse] now… If things were changed and fixed in there, there would definitely be some push to grow food.”
As far as maintenance goes, most of the labor is performed by students under the supervision of Stidham. Students are hired by the department to see to the day to day upkeep of the plants in the greenhouse.
“There are… student workers under Angie Stidham who clean up the greenhouse, plant new plants, water, cut leaves…” said McCarty.
As well as being lab space for botanical observation, the greenhouse is also home to some of the Biological and Environmental Science Department’s animal enclosures. As of present, students must have permission to use the greenhouse as it is considered extended classroom space by the science faculty and staff. The students who frequent the greenhouse are most often science students conducting research or students attending to the needs of the resident plants and animals.
Often overlooked or ignored, the greenhouse in Battelle Hall is a suitable home for plants that thrive in conditions warmer than that of central Ohio as well as a vital resource for science students and faculty alike.
