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Glasshouse is new home for tree research
Important research into producing fast-growing native trees that can help mitigate climate change will soon have a new home at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Construction of a 200 square metre glasshouse that will be used by USC, the CSIRO and the Queensland Department of 
Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) is almost complete.
The glasshouse is owned by the CSIRO and has been relocated from Brisbane to the University campus at Sippy Downs by Evans Harch Pty Ltd.
Once finished, the $500,000 facility will include an automated mechanical ventilation system. Plants and equipment are expected to arrive soon.
USC’s Professor of Agricultural Ecology Helen Wallace said the polycarbonate glasshouse contained four 50 square metre chambers – one for each of the three partners for their individual research and one for joint projects.
Professor Wallace said the facility would be used for a variety of research activities, particularly the propagation of endangered native plants, hardwood trees and rainforest trees.
She said USC, DEEDI and the CSIRO were currently working together as members of the Smart Forests Alliance Queensland.
“We have about $3 million in joint projects between the three partners and this glasshouse will enable us to run further projects together in the future,” she said.
“The joint projects include creating fast-growing trees that can be used for forestry and mitigating climate change.”
The Smart Forests Alliance Queensland, led by USC, was launched in 2008 after receiving $1.9 million from the Queensland Government’s Smart State Innovation Funding program. This program aims to build world-class research facilities, attract top-quality scientists to Queensland and stimulate cutting-edge research projects.
Construction work also is continuing at USC on a much larger project, a $4.7 million multi-purpose science building.
The four-storey building will host three lecture theatres/tutorial rooms on the ground floor and 75 staff offices plus meeting rooms and kitchenettes on levels 1-3.
Construction is scheduled to finish by December, weather permitting, and the building is expected to be commissioned for use by the start of the 2012 academic year.
— Terry Walsh