News 2022
Launch of Urban Farm at School of BEES
The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) recently hosted an open day in Distillery Fields to launch their new Urban Farm.
The event took place to mark Fascination of Plants Day, a global initiative celebrating all things good and essential about plants in our world. The idea of the urban farm is to use a novel type of growing system (aeroponics) to produce high quality food locally with a lower carbon footprint. The event engaged members of the public and schools in discussions around how food is produced and the factors that impact food security. In addition, one of the beekeepers from the UCC apiary was on site to give a demonstration.
The event also showcased some of the research that the School of BEES is currently involved in including ‘the age of chocolate’, CRISPRed strawberry, hemp breeding, grass research, development of novel compounds for fighting Phytophthora infestans (Late Blight a major disease of potato), survivor seeds from Hiroshima, plants as a source of medicines and much more.