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George Leigh Minor Plant and Soil Health Center

An Opportunity to Grow a Sustainable Future

The George Leigh Minor Plant and Soil Health Center will combine UConn’s public-facing agricultural services with a new flexible, collaborative, laboratory space for CAHNR. With your support, it will create a hub for researchers to answer some of the most pressing agricultural questions and challenges facing our state and nation.

The New Space

The George Leigh Minor Plant and Soil Health Center will be housed in the annex of the Roy E. Jones Building, a currently unused area that neighbors the UConn Dairy Bar and Horsebarn Hill at UConn Storrs. It will bring together several existing and physically separated specialized service centers already established at UConn:

    Currently, these centers collectively process over 14,000 soil samples, 350 plant diagnostic reports, and countless phone calls and in-person visits to serve the public and the agricultural industry of our state each year. Co-housing these service centers and creating a new indoor/outdoor public learning space will allow for integration of research, teaching, and extension to fulfill UConn’s three-part mission as a land-grant university.

    Satelite and architectural overview of the new Plant and Soil Health Center in the Jones Building Annex. Highlights the proximity to Uconn Forest, Horsebarn Hill, UConn Daity Bar and Route 195.

    Teaching and Learning, Research, and Public Service

    This newly renovated space will be a hub of activity for students and the public to learn about the importance of agriculture and to address issues on feeding the future, protecting our environment, and interacting with nature. It will include:

    • demonstration gardens and displays that educate about various soil types and plants
    • a space for the public to learn about the latest plant pests and pathogens
    • access to diagnostic services to improve plant production

    Additionally, a new research innovation lab will be created to give researchers a flexible high-tech space to conduct project-based experiments.

     

    With all of these features coming together in a central location, students will more easily be able to access and experience each facet of plant and soil health, from research to interacting with and educating the public.

    Architectural overview of the new Plant and Soil Health Center in the Jones Building Annex. Highlights the naming opportunities for the Plant and Turf Diagnostic Lab, the Soil Analysis Lab, Research Innovation Labs, and the Public Learning Space

    George Leigh Minor

    George Leigh Minor ’56 (CAHNR) was a lifelong farmer and a proud alumnus of the University of Connecticut. Through a generous bequest, the George Leigh Minor Plant and Soil Health Center will ensure public facing activities and research related to plant and soil health.