American Hydroponics donates equipment to Boston College as part of grant proposal
When asked why he chose to work with American Hydroponics Mike Barnett said the following, “I have worked with AmHydro in the past, when I approached them about this project I was trying to fill a need. In order to apply for a grant from the USDA I needed a corporate partner to provide a certain percentage of matching funds. That is where American Hydroponics stepped up and said ‘We can do that.’”
American Hydroponics Chief Technical Officer, Scott Kornberg, fully supports BC’s program. “At American Hydroponics we are passionate about education. We work hard to educate our growers to make them as successful as possible. When Mr. Barnett approached us about educating the next generation of growers and inspiring young people to love science, we were happy to help.”
As the world’s population continues to grow, our current system of crop production will not be able to keep up with demand. It is estimated that by the middle of this century almost 9 billion people will inhabit planet Earth. “Hydroponics is farming for the 21st century,” said Barnett. “Getting as many urban youth excited about science and problem solving is the goal, and hydroponics provides that mechanism.”
The USDA grant will allow Mr. Barnett’s program to add 90 more teachers to the program giving them a total of roughly 120 teachers using hydroponics in the classroom. “While we do supply materials to teachers, we also write curriculums and lesson plans to help teachers integrate these systems into their classrooms. In many cases teachers are teaching environmental science, biology, chemistry, they don’t specifically teach a hydroponics class.”
American Hydroponics has also partnered with Mike Barnett on a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for $1.2 million. “American Hydroponics makes things as affordable as they can for us, so we can reach as many teachers as possible through their educational discounts,” remarked Barnett. “It’s all about getting inner city kids excited about science, and hydroponics is the way to do it. AmHydro has helped us out with thinking thorough the design of our systems, different types of materials and equipment we can use, and general advice. They were one of the first folks to get excited about the project, and have been providing the core components for the systems we use for the past 2-3 years.
According to Mr. Barnett, the way STEM subjects are currently taught is not cohesive or in any way interdisciplinary. Merging physics, chemistry, and math through fun and interactive programs will get more students interested in science. This year, 22 high school seniors graduated through the STEM program at the Lynch School of Education. Of those seniors, 20 are going on to study some form of science in college. There was also one recipient of a Gates Scholarship. This highly competitive scholarship will provide that student with a full academic scholarship through a Master’s program to the college of their choosing.
“AmHydro is proud to have a partner in education like Mike Barnett,” said Kornberg. “There is nothing better than seeing future generations use our equipment to study and experiment. That is how we got started and we cannot wait to see what the future holds.”
For more information
American Hydroponics
Scott Kornberg, Chief Technology Officer
286 South G Street
Arcata, Calif. 95521
T: 800-458-6543 X 317
T: 707-633-4376 ext.317 office
C: 707-599-1209
[email protected]
www.amhydro.com
