Percival Scientific and OXMAN Collaborate to Create Beautiful Climate “Capsules”
Neri Oxman, designer, inventor and CEO of OXMAN, proposed a partnership with Percival Scientific to custom-build four identical climate-controlled rooms called “capsules” for the future-focused design studio and laboratory her company was constructing in New York City. These climate capsules are unlike anything Percival Scientific has created before and required a redesign of nearly every chamber component.
In addition to their stunningly elegant appearance, the capsules feature movable 8-color LED panels, a modular interior for attachments and shelving, robotic technology, an extended temperature range and advanced software that can replicate historical climates. Their remarkable versatility allows the OXMAN lab team to conduct diverse experiments across many disciplines.
“I don’t think I’ve seen anything in my career that comes anywhere close to this amount of collaboration.” – Dan Kiekhaefer, Vice President of Engineering, Percival Scientific
Percival Walk-In Rooms Expand Bee and Wasp Research Opportunities
Professor Amy Toth and her research department at Iowa State University tried conducting behavioral experiments with native bees and wasps in a semi-controlled environment. However, the insects’ high mortality rate led to unreliable results. In response, Toth and her colleagues invested in Percival Scientific walk-in rooms with tight controls, colored lighting and diurnal cycling.
“Now that we have the Percival chambers, we’re really excited because the stability of the conditions is way beyond anything we’ve had access to before, so having that degree of precise control really opens up a lot of opportunities for new experiments that we wouldn’t have been able to do before.”
The Role of Percival Scientific Chambers in the Race to Save Corals
Dr. Virigina Weiss oversees coral-algal research in the Weiss Lab at Oregon State University (OSU) with the goal of more completely understanding coral/algal symbiosis and finding ways to help coral survive on a warming planet before it's too late. Her lab team at OSU relies on a large stock of anemones maintained in Percival Scientific climate chambers designed for algae growth to do this work.
“We have exquisite control on light conditions, not just brightness but day length and also on temperature … it's very important for our research to be able to conduct temperature experiments because that's what causes [coral] bleaching.”
Maui Greens Relies on SciBrite® Plant Growth Chambers for Indoor Farming R&D
Neil Yorio, vice president of plant science for Maui Greens – a leafy greens indoor farming operation, believes investing in accurate R&D is crucial to getting the best possible results from indoor crops. That's why the company created the Plant Science R&D Lab inside their newest facility, equipped with six Percival Scientific SciBrite® plant growth chambers.
“They had a flexible, programmable LED system that could meet our research goals right out of the gate. The seven-color multi-channel LED array allows us to create spectral treatments for many different experiments we want to run.”
The Science of Rearing Butterflies at Reiman Gardens With Percival Chambers
Percival Scientific's incubators create the ideal environment for superior butterfly emergence to populate the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing at Iowa State University's Reiman Gardens. Curator Nathan Brockman says he and his staff can depend on the chambers to deliver optimal results with butterfly emergence as they study the specific conditions each species needs for the highest emergence success.
“With the [Percival] chambers here, I [can] set them to whatever I need to ensure we have the best emergence of any facility, potentially in the world.”
One-of-a-Kind Hummingbird Study Uses Percival Incubator and Infrared Imaging
Former Professor of Biology Don Powers, Ph.D., and his students at George Fox University worked to understand the effect of rising temperatures on the pollination services of hummingbirds. To aid their study, they fabricated a flight box installed with a flow-through respirometry mask and fit it inside a Percival Scientific incubator.
“The [Percival incubator] performed brilliantly, maintaining temperature exceptionally well without breaking a sweat. In my experience, we wouldn’t have maintained the same level of precise control in a temperature-controlled room.”
Percival Scientific Drosophila Chambers for Investigating the Impact of Heavy Metal Exposure
Stuart Macdonald, Ph.D., professor and associate chair of the Department of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Kansas, uses Percival Drosophila incubators to study fruit flies as a model system for understanding the impact of toxic heavy metal exposure on human health.
“The near-perfect temperature, humidity and light cycles offered by Percival incubators have been essential for this work, particularly for difficult-to-measure behavioral traits. We have now conducted screens for dozens of traits in our Percival incubators.”
Xiang Research Group Relies on Customized Percival Chambers Used for Study of Coral-Algal Symbiosis
Former Assistant Professor Tingting Xiang, Ph.D., and her research group at UNC Charlotte used Percival tissue culture chambers with LED lighting to assist their study of the algae that coral depend on to survive.
“A big part of our research is growing the algae under specific light wavelengths, which affects their metabolism because they are photosynthetic. We can adjust their metabolism with light and test how light affects the health of the algae and the host.”
Undergraduate Students Conduct Globally Impactful Research Using Customized Dual-Purpose Percival Chambers
While at the University of North Georgia’s Oconee Campus, Dr. Alex Olvido aimed to help his undergraduate students become better scientists. He chose two dual-purpose Percival growth chambers to help them perform high-caliber, publishable research on mealworms as a global food source.
“I am happy to the nth degree with these growth chambers, particularly with their controls that allow exquisitely fine-tuned simulation of seasonal photoperiods and ambient temperatures.”
Percival Scientific and ISU Collaborate on the Effects of Climate Change on Plant Growth
Steve Whitham, professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, and other researchers from the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State University partnered with Percival Scientific to create a first-of-its-kind research facility with customized chambers that a robotic rover could access. The "Enviratron" project focused on identifying plant genotypes most able to withstand climate change.
“These are not your standard chambers. They've been designed from the ground up specifically for the Enviratron project.”
Percival Scientific Teams With Indigo Agriculture to Improve Food Production
Focusing on microbes such as bacteria and fungi, Indigo Ag studies plant microbiomes, believing the most significant impact on the world's food production will come from a microscopic source. They chose Percival Scientific tissue culture walk-in chambers for their newly built research lab.
“Percival was ‘extremely responsive’ during the proposal evaluation process, and [their] staff were very open and were very collaborative.”
AgBiome and Percival Scientific Partner for a Better World
Agbiome, a former biotechnology company, studied plant microbiomes to find solutions for ag-related problems such as plant disease, weeds and insects. Director Phillip Hammer, Ph.D., chose Percival incubators when he started the company, knowing how reliable they were after previously working with some that were over a decade old.
“They had been used for many years, put on trucks and bumped around. We plugged them in, and they just worked and kept on working.”
Cornell University and Percival Scientific Collaborate to Win LEED Gold Certification
As Cornell University was seeking LEED Gold certification for a newly constructed building, they looked for a partner to install 22 specially designed plant growth chambers for their plant growth lab that would meet the stringent requirements of the LEED certification.
“Percival was willing to look at nontraditional design. … [They] delivered on all our requirements and then some.”