Brian Thorson tends to four

GREEN

By Madalyn Amato News Editor

HEach morning, he gets to campus as the sun rises to begin his daily routine of tending to the plants. The botanical sciences department has four greenhouses on campus. Three of them are located on top of the Hall of Science, and the fourth is tucked away on lower campus, hidden behind a brick wall next to the Facilities Management Building.

Thorson completed his master’s degree in applied molecular systematics in 2005 at CSULB, but his passion has always lied in horticulture.

“I grew up in and spent my adolescent years in Guam,” Thorson said. “Our culture is really heavily influenced by our interactions with plants, and not just to eat but as building materials and for ceremonial purposes.”

Now 50 years old, Thorson remembers growing his first plants as a child.

“I’ve been growing plants since I was 6, so I’ve always had an interest,” Thorson said. “The more I learned about them the more fascinating they were to me, I’ll grow anything.”

Thorson began tending to the greenhouses as a graduate student, and when his predecessor and former mentor retired, he was offered the job.

He said the greenhouses and growing grounds serve as a place for plants to grow for research and classroom use, as well as a reference collection for different plant species.

The rooftop greenhouses are made with polycarbonate, which is highly effective for insulation, allowing the plants to stay at their designated temperatures for extended periods of time, even in the winter.

One of the houses on top of the HSCI is a tropical climate house, housing specific plants that prefer more humid living conditions. The others are much drier. The tempered house reflects the outside temperature, while the arid house mimics desert-like conditions.

The greenhouse located on lower campus is a more traditionally constructed unit made of single pane glass. Thorson said he has to work harder to keep those plants tempered properly because of the lack of insulation.

Thorson utilizes foggers in the tropical houses to create more moisture in the air for the plants that are native to humid areas.

The department houses well over 1,000 plant species from all around the world. Thorson finds new plants online, from fellow botanists and from his travels to add to the ever-growing collection.

As Thorson walks the rows of the greenhouses,