UF scientist plans to plant food in greenhouse – on Mars

When Nicole Beisel talks about her research, some people think she’s studying science fiction.

“I’ll sometimes say, ‘I study plants in space,’ and people laugh and don’t even let me finish because they think it’s a joke,” said Beisel, chuckling.

At the beginning of this year, the 23-year-old began studying how plant DNA can adapt to environments outside of Earth. She’s a part of a team that wants to turn a shipping container into a controlled greenhouse to grow crops on Mars. Beisel is working with researchers from UF’s Space Plants Lab and scientists in 10 labs around the world.

To prepare for the possibility of human space travel, researchers want to know if crops can survive on Mars before people arrive, Beisel said.

Beisel, a UF plant molecular and cellular biology first-year doctoral student, is using a modified GoPro, or small video camera, to see a plant’s stress level within 15 minutes.

UF Space Plants Lab already monitors a greenhouse in Antarctica remotely, which was installed late last year. It grows crops like arugula, beets and radishes. The hostile environment is a “practice zone” and is similar to the extreme environment of Mars, Beisel said.

“We can try to rescue the plant and give a more successful greenhouse effort, overall, for one day where growing crops on Mars would be really important,” Beisel said.