Cultivating Growth in Science and Students

Brian Connolly (’07), the biology department’s senior lab coordinator and self-proclaimed plant nerd, is leading the way in Gonzaga’s greenhouse.

“It was an under-utilized resource and now there’s not an empty bench in there,” Connolly says.

Connolly, who studied undergraduate biology at Gonzaga, rejoined the department as a lecturer in fall 2021. Shortly after, however, a vacancy opened up in the lab. His research history in ecology led him to transition to his current role as lab coordinator, where he develops the curriculum for Gonzaga’s 200-level biology classes and oversees student work in the greenhouse.

Biology 205 and 206 use the greenhouse, located in Hughes Hall, as a part of their curriculum, creating space for real life application of academic principles.

Some benches in the facility house carnivorous plants for students studying species that need to eat insects for nitrogen, others are full of vegetable starts for local food banks.

Over the last few years, Connolly has helped lead the charge in developing a community outreach component to the greenhouse, whether it be through supporting community gardens or other faculty’s research efforts.

“Last summer, Professor Betsy Bancroft in environmental studies used the space for aquariums for tadpoles she was studying,” Connolly says. “Julie Beckstead is teaching a plant propagation class in there where students go through and learn how to propagate native plants.”

Beckstead, a professor of biology, was Connolly’s research mentor at Gonzaga when he was a student in 2006. Now Connolly himself is a mentor for student research.

In 2022, Connolly worked with undergraduate student Jon Mai (’25) on studying the impact of frost on seedlings to potentially control invasive versus native grass growth.

“We had a really good time working on the project,” Connolly says. “He put so much effort into it, and it showed me what Gonzaga students can do. I asked graduate level requirements of him, and he absolutely rose to the occasion.”

Mai, who is graduating this spring, described how Connolly began his research journey.

That is Connolly’s end goal: to create a facility that provides a commercial level experience and publication quality for students and faculty alike.

“In these upper division classes, you get this enthusiasm that is contagious. Students realize they can work with plants as a career, and then being able to provide some exposure to what that would look like in a professional setting is really important,” Connolly says.

This experience will be further enabled by the upgrades coming to the greenhouse.

A large gift from Steve and Heather Hastings will support major renovations to the facility in coming years, including improved and more sustainable lighting and new irrigation, heating and control systems.

“Publications are the outward facing component of the science we do,” Connolly says, “so having the facilities that enable that kind of representation makes me so excited.”