Facilities

Laboratory at 106 Riverbend Road (Horticulture Headhouse), Athens, GA

The Ferrarezi laboratory has a robust infrastructure, being one of the largest science labs in the Department of Horticulture, with 3,500 sq ft that includes working benches equipped with sinks, cabinets, fume hood, conference room, machine shop, and sample/ potting preparation room for routine horticulture activities. Adjacent to the laboratory, the program’s research technician has dedicated office space.

Overview of the laboratory space shared between the Ferrarezi and Van Iersel’s Labs.

Dedicated research greenhouse #R9 at 106 Riverbend Road (Horticulture Headhouse), Athens, GA

The program has a 30’x72’ state-of-the-art greenhouse with 1,400 sq ft of bench space with dedicated storage shed.

Overview of the renovations at the research greenhouse located at the Riverbend Greenhouse Complex.
Overview of the 1,200 sq ft research greenhouse dedicated to the Ferrarezi Lab.

Vertical farms at 106 Riverbend Road (Horticulture Headhouse), Athens, GA

The Ferrarezi Lab has two 14’x15’ vertical farms with 7 racks with four 2’x12’ shelves with a total of 672 sq ft of growth space under LED lights and controlled environment.

One of our vertical farms – the “Yoda room” – with a lighting system donated by Agrify – a strong supporter of our program.
Our second vertical farm – the “Skywalker room” – also with lights donated by Agrify.

Dedicated grower chambers at 106 Riverbend Road (Horticulture Headhouse), Athens, GA

Our facilities can be used for short- and long-term physiological and plant growth studies.

We also have a dedicated series of growth chambers, outfitted with programmable, dimmable white LED or red/blue LED light fixtures. They have been used for a chlorophyll fluorescence-based biofeedback system, whole plant photosynthesis research, and miscellaneous studies. We have a system that can measure chlorophyll fluorescence and quantum yield of photosystem II and calculate electron transport rate (ETR). The system can autonomously adjust the light level to achieve a user-define ETR.

Greenhouse at UGA Horticulture Research Farm at 1221 Hog Mountain Rd, Watkinsville, GA