STEMLab

Fairchild Garden

Beginning in 2015, Fairchild, in partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and The University of Miami School of Architecture, Design Build Program, worked to transform an ADA-accessible, decommissioned yellow school bus into STEMLab – a state-of-the-art mobile botanical micropropgration laboratory. The lab was designed to provide the opportunity for middle school students to actively contribute to Fairchild’s The Million Orchid Project by doing similar lab-based techniques that our scientists do here at the Garden. Since schools don’t typically have the specialized equipment to conduct this research, we decided to bring it to them. Outfitted with specialized laboratory equipment (including two laminar flow hoods, an autoclave, reverse osmosis water, photo-voltaic power, a generator, air conditioning, refrigeration, laboratory plumbing, electricity, and safety equipment), this lab has already visited more than 60 schools. Making its debut at Fairchild 14th Annual Orchid Festival