Tarleton’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (COAES) just opened the new Animal and Plant Sciences Center at the end of homecoming week. “Think of the building’s purpose as animal science or horticulture and plant science. Most [students] will take a class in that building even if it’s not their major,” the Dean of COAES, Dr. Steve Damron said. The Animal Science side has an open sided learning room where students can study animals to encourage more hands-on learning, and it also has many animal science labs. The Plant Sciences side has horticulture rooms, labs and 4 green houses. “The building is designed to be a state-of-the-art facility where students can get a world class education. Because we knew we were getting the building, we purchased a lot of technology and equipment to put in there. These are the very latest in teaching tools for our faculty to use, and we are very excited about that,” Damron said. In the new center, the number of things that students can learn are innumerable. Students can learn comprehensive topics from start to finish. “As far as learning, they can get anything they’re interested in whether its nutrition, reproductive physiology, soils lab (which includes plant experiments, soil testing, composition), entomology, disease prevention, parasitology, and many more options. They can do it all in a well-constructed and equipped
space,” Damron said. Some of the other benefits of this new center is planning summer workshops with horticulture, judging, biotechnology, insects and pollination. “We see ourselves in partnership with the community and variety of interests in North Texas, such as FFA and 4H. We really see ourselves at the interface of education, the community and Tarleton,” Damron said. The center also includes the student run, Purple Tractor, which is a teaching laboratory that provides merchandise to help students learn about marketing products. New additions to the farm also include dorper sheep, pure-bred cattle, and the college is also considering a bee aviary. Most COAES students have already seen and benefitted from the new center. “I think it was beneficial to add it because it gives us a space to dissect things and get more handson experience. It’s a more suitable environment for hands-on learning,” Animal Science major, Rylie Goodman said. Although the new center was just opened, there are still some new improvements running through the college. Next up on the wish list is a replacement for the Joe W. Autry Agriculture Building. “The resources have outgrown this building. There are many things we can accomplish with more space, labs, and offices,” Damron said. On top of new buildings, the college is presenting new degree opportunities. The college is submitting a Master’s in Horticulture as well as a Master’s in Agri Business and Environmental Economy. “Now that we have these incredible facilities, we want to split it in its own degree. We’re training people for advanced degrees and working in the industry because both are needed,” Damron said. The college is also looking to put forth a PhD in Animal Science, which would be the third PhD program to come out of Tarleton. The college is laying the ground work for that now. The college is growing at a very quick pace, according to Damron. This is the second year in a row the college has had over 2000 students, which is due
to an increase in both undergraduate and graduate numbers. “If we continue [to grow], we must make plans to continue to give the best to each department. Planning for general growth is a very important thing. Looking at when we need more faculty, what areas will need working on, and always keeping up with latest technology that will help our students,” Damron said. Information on the new Animal and Plant Science building can be found on the Tarleton website or at the building itself, which is located at the Agriculture Center.