The overall mission of the College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences (CAENs) is to develop students with skills in critical and systematic thinking, intellectual curiosity, a desire for lifelong learning, and to prepare them for leadership and service in the basic and applied sciences. The crops are housed in the Carver Phytoresearch (CPU) Unit which is an extension of the CAENs Department. The CPU is a new addition to the campus greenhouse facilities and will serve as the testing site to introduce new technology such as LED lights, humidity, and camera monitoring.   

  

Tuskegee University is an 1890 Land-Grant Institution founded to improve the economy of rural farming communities, addressing the need to enhance systematic training, and increase the diversity in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Tuskegee Student Agricultural Research Team continues this mission by integrating technology and other science of facets to the traditional horticultural practices. Dr. Willard Collier is an assistant professor of organic and physical chemistry at Tuskegee University and aids in the process development and project analysis. Dr. Sharan Asundi of space systems engineering and aids in the exposure processes of the project. The team utilizes seeds donated by local farmers and purchased seeds for the trials. Our goal is to increase interest in controlled environment agriculture at historically black colleges and universities. Another benefit would be to possibly improve the seeds of local farmers.