Phytotron records, 1958 - 1984

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Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. In off-site storage; 48 hours advance notice required for use. For a period of twenty-five years from...
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Summary

Creator:
Duke University. Department of Botany
Abstract:
Established in 1968 with funds from Duke and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Phytotron is a controlled environment research facility located on the Duke University campus housing plant growth chambers, controlled greenhouses, and associated instrumentation and laboratories. The Phytotron Records contain correspondence, memoranda, financial records, reports, grant proposals, blueprints, schematics, contracts, supplier catalogs, specification books, and other records of the planning, construction, and operation of the facility. Major subjects include the Duke University Dept. of Botany and Dept. of Biology, greenhouses, and global environmental change. English.
Extent:
6 Linear Feet
4,500 Items
Language:
English.
Collection ID:
UA.25.11.0001
University Archives Record Group:
25 -- Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
25 -- Trinity College of Arts and Sciences > 11 -- Biology

Background

Scope and content:

The Phytotron Records contain correspondence, memoranda, financial records, reports, grant proposals, blueprints, schematics, contracts, supplier catalogs, specification books, and ot er records of the planning and construction of the facility, as well as the operation of the Phytotron. These materials include a 1962 feasibility study, meeting minutes, construction progress reports, descriptions of phytotrons in business and academic settings, architect's reports, a facilities review, and records of the opening and dedication (1968), the Phytotron Board, the Regional Phytotron Committee, and USDA workshops.

Biographical / historical:

The Phytotron is a controlled environment facility located on the Duke University campus. It houses 48 plant growth chambers and six controlled greenhouses -- a total of over 450 square meters of growth space -- and associated instrumentation and laboratories. Established in 1968 with funds from Duke and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Phytotron was designed by leading scientists in controlled environment (CE) research and technology.

Controlled environment facilities permit investigators to create experimental systems in which biotic and/or abiotic variables and factors are controlled by the investigator. The phytotron can reproduce different types of environments, ranging from the arctic to the desert to the tropics. Researchers are able to maintain precise control over environmental conditions (e.g., soil type, air temperature, light levels, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, relative humidity, nutrients) and the organisms under study (e.g., mixtures of plant and animal species and their spatial arrangement). This provides the opportunity to gain increased understanding of the complex interactions between plants and their environment in studies of global change.

[This text adapted from the Phytotron website: http://www.biology.duke.edu/phytotron/]

Acquisition information:
The Phytotron Records were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1980 and 1993.
Processing information:

Processed by Sara Busija

Completed April 2004

Encoded by Jill Katte, May 2004

Arrangement:

The records are organized by accession.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult University Archives, Duke University.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

In off-site storage; 48 hours advance notice required for use.

For a period of twenty-five years from the origin of the material, permission in writing from the office of origin and the University Archivist is required for use. After twenty-five years, records that have been processed may be consulted with the permission of the University Archivist.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Phytotron Records, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.