UFV’s Chilliwack campus recently welcomed the Berry Environmental Resilience Research & Innovation Lab (BERRi), “a 980-square-foot facility outfitted with state-of-the-art technology.” Directed by Dr. Lauren Erland, the lab aims to enhance the resilience and sustainability of local berry horticulture and the surrounding ecosystem. In a conversation with The Cascade, Dr. Erland shared the lab’s goals, current projects, and the exciting opportunities it has for students.
Dr. Erland explained that their research centres major commercial crops from the Vaccinium genus, such as blueberries, cranberries, and huckleberries. She stated that these berries are “really interesting from a plant biology perspective,” as they have high levels of melatonin and serotonin. “We can use them as a kind of study system in that way.” Erland added that these berries grow in diverse ecosystems, “they’ve got lots of environmental resilience.”
The BERRi lab has brought new research capacity to UFV, equipped with an $800,000 chemical analyzer that measures all the berry’s chemicals in detail. “We’ve got a whole plant tissue culture set up,” Dr. Erland explained. “It’s very much a custom built space to really build capacity for berry research that we didn’t have before.”
“There is no research without students, and it’s really cool watching their journey,” Dr. Erland said in an interview with UFV Today. The BERRi lab prioritizes creating hands-on opportunities for students; four undergraduate students and one postdoctoral researcher currently work for her. The lab offers diverse opportunities, including work-study opportunities, research assistant positions, and volunteer opportunities. Students are welcome to join ongoing projects, receive training, and run their own projects.
The BERRi lab is currently engaging in many projects — including one focused on melatonin and serotonin in plants — to help understand how metabolites control plant growth and enhance survival during climate change associated disruptions. Another project is centred on understanding climate resilience in vaccinium, examining how different vaccinium species respond to different environmental stresses.
One of their most exciting projects involves studying environmental responses of different plant collections from above the Arctic. “I got to go up to Nunavut for my research a few years ago, and we did a bunch of plant collections.”
Dr. Erland added that “we’re kind of looking at expanding some of that more northern research, which I think is quite fun.”
One of the student-run projects involves investigating how compounds in wildfire smoke control plant growth. Another, in collaboration with BC Cranberry Growers’ Association, examines how cranberries react to different climatic conditions. The lab also has multiple projects going on to understand plant growth in different environments, and has a diverse plant tissue culture growing in clear gel to “do all sorts of cool experiments.”
Conducting research and facing failures goes hand in hand. “All the time, everyday,” said Dr. Erland in response to research challenges. “We wouldn’t have to do research if there weren’t any challenges, if there weren’t any open questions. All of [the] research is about things that we don’t know, things that don’t work, things we don’t understand.” For students who want to conduct independent research, going at it without the proper support can be challenging. Dr. Erland advises those interested to speak with their instructors, as many of them collaborate with students on research projects.
Dr. Erland mentioned various funding opportunities available for BERRi projects. One approach is to collaborate with industry partners with similar interests who are willing to support applied berry research. Another common avenue is securing grants from federal and provincial governments. The lab also engages with non-profit organizations or special interests groups for additional support.
The BERRi lab also conducts research on specimens besides berries. Dr. Erland’s office hosts different plant species, such as Sundew — a rapidly moving carnivorous plant — and a lace plant — a rare plant that not only grows its own leaves, but also kills a predefined number of cells. “My job is mostly to come up with questions and then hope the students want to find answers to them.”
Dr. Erland envisions that the lab will continue adding more projects with more students and faculty members while seeing some fun research papers come out of the lab. She said, “Some of the information we generate is useful and interesting to someone who is not us.” The research generated not only helps to meet the lab’s broad objectives, but provides companies with an understanding of how their products can support plant growth.
When it comes to research, Dr. Erland advised students to “be persistent…[and] don’t give up,” emphasizing that it’s normal for research to be challenging and to not feel discouraged. “Research is hard. You’re learning new things, you’re creating new knowledge, you’re doing things that no one’s ever done before. And so, you know, that’s okay.”
