The best scientific ideas aren't necessarily born in a laboratory or a classroom. They sometimes emerge when two people meet in a stairwell or engage in conversation while topping off their coffee mugs. In such serendipitous moments, like-minded individuals may exchange ideas that help to resolve a shared problem.

"When you bring people together, you get something new called 'creative collisions.' These intersections lead to innovation on a level that changes the paradigm of what is possible," said Mike Evans '85 (horticulture), director of CALS's new School of Plant and Environmental Sciences.

The school combines three former departments — horticulture; crop and soil environmental sciences; and plant pathology, physiology, and weed science — under one administrative roof. The majors or degrees offered by the three former departments have not changed, but the school plans to explore new majors that build upon faculty expertise and meet the demands of students and industry.

To illustrate how collaborations in the school will generate greater impact, Evans points to his own experience as a horticultural researcher, where teamwork between disciplines made a solution possible.

A few years ago, while researching how to best grow lettuce in a controlled environment using hydroponics, Evans began talking with a plant pathologist seeking a defense for powdery mildew on spinach. Soon, the two were collaborating on ways to grow the spinach in a greenhouse, which allowed for faster growing cycles — and for the plant pathologist to conduct scientific trials more quickly than would have been possible in the field.

"I believe that by creating a space in which new relationships can form and risk-taking in the name of innovation is encouraged, we have unlimited potential to make a lasting impact in plant and environmental sciences," Evans said.

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