Have you ever been to the Greenhouse on campus? Did you even know that we have a greenhouse on campus? Don’t worry… you are not alone.
The Upham Greenhouse is home to an array of plants, student orgs, and of course, the Sustainability Office. Students Allied for a Greener Earth (S.A.G.E.), Garden Club, and several others use the Greenhouse as their weekly meeting space, but our office also hosts many events down there! Plant workshops, tours, and special events have all been hosted in the space over the years.
Originally built in 1981, the Upham Greenhouse was meant to serve the Biological Sciences Department. While the Biology Department oversaw the greenhouse, the department curated a botanical collection of various exotic plants found in both desert and rainforest environments– and we still have most of the collection today! The collection was kept up by biology majors and volunteers until eventually the space became used for storage.
Eventually, the Sustainability Office started to overtake the space– we moved in, renovated, cleaned, and poured blood, sweat, and tears into the building, turning the greenhouse into the community space that it is now!
A number of student projects are conducted in the greenhouse in partnership with our office. This ranges from a graduate psychology student researching the effects of being surrounded by houseplants on mental health, an art student who grows and dries flowers for paints, and even a vermicomposting system being run by a student organization (S.A.G.E.).
There are actually three greenhouses in use:
- Greenhouse 1 is used for our annual plant sale, when we sell hundreds of house plants, vegetables, and native prairie plants from our campus nature preserve. “GH1” also has table space that student organizations have borrowed, as well as student research projects (above).
- Greenhouse 2 grows our houseplants. We provide plants for many events that we participate in, such as UC Live’s Succulent Workshop. Spider plants, Aloe, Kalanchoe, and succulent plants all live in Greenhouse 2.
- Greenhouse 3 is where we keep the botanical collection that was started by the Biological Sciences Department! Cacti, trees, succulents, and more make up the 100+ different species of plants kept in the botanical collection.
The Upham Greenhouse has become the de-facto campus location for our office, providing an opportunity for us to better connect with students, partner with student organizations, and host events for the student body.
The Greenhouse is open for enjoyment whenever Upham Hall is open. As long as everyone follows a few guidelines:
- Please do not touch, move, pick, or take any plants from the greenhouse. Our interns work very hard to keep our plants happy and healthy for plant sales and events! Plus, some of our plants are very sensitive and/or very sharp (from experience… not worth it to touch the spikes).
- Since the greenhouse has become the Sustainability Office’s main workspace, please pick up after yourself and help keep the space clean.
- Finally, we try our best to save energy here, so please turn off any lights that you turned on and close doors behind you to keep our temperatures regulated.
After many renovations, deep cleanings, and maintenance repairs, the greenhouse has become a part of the campus community, and provides a home to many different plants. During your time at UW-Whitewater, we hope you get a chance to enjoy the Upham Greenhouse, whether it be through events, student org meetings, or just exploring on your own time.
Directions to the Upham Greenhouse:
- Go into the main entrance of Upham Hall and enter the main lobby.
- Turn down the Physics Department hallway (Long hallway to the right of the lobby) and walk to the end of the hallway.
- Next to the Upham Recycling Nook and a bulletin board of flyers is the door for the greenhouse
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