University of Rhode Island · Plant Sciences and Entomology

How crops handle stress, from oxygen-starved roots to frozen buds.

The Villouta Lab studies the physiology of specialty crops in greenhouses, hydroponic systems, and difficult soils. We look closely at roots and buds, and we aim for answers growers can use.

See the research Publications

What we work on

Five lines of research, most of them below the surface.

Root-zone oxygen

How much dissolved oxygen roots in water need, and what fails at each extreme, from hypoxia to hypersaturation.

Deep water culture

Root exudates and carbon

What roots release into a hydroponic solution, what it costs the plant in carbon, and whether it helps or harms the crop.

Spinach · USDA NIFA

Serpentine and saline soils

How lettuce and tomato roots respond to chemically hostile soils, followed through exudates and carbon isotopes.

Lettuce, tomato · NASA

Cold hardiness and freezing injury

Where ice forms in a plant, which tissues it kills, and how buds keep it out.

Cranberry and woody crops

Greenhouse films and light

Whether covering films that reshape sunlight improve winter crops under Northeast light and heating costs.

Greenhouse production

Five members of the lab smiling around a restaurant table covered with trays of barbecue — Lab dinner in Dallas during the 2026 ASHS conference.

Working with the lab

Growers and industry

Our questions start in production: how much oxygen a hydroponic root zone needs, what holds spinach back in water culture, whether a new greenhouse film earns its place in a Northeast winter. Camilo serves on the board of the Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo.

Bring us a production question

Collaborators and funders

Current projects are supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and NASA. We work with root phenotyping, plant anatomy and microscopy, gas exchange, and controlled freezing, and we partner with outside facilities for metabolomics.

Read the publications

URI students

Camilo teaches fruit culture, horticultural plant production, a seminar in controlled environment agriculture, and advanced hydroponics. Undergraduates in the lab run real experiments alongside graduate students. In 2026 two of them were co-first authors of a HortScience paper that made the journal's cover, and one placed third in the undergraduate poster competition at ASHS.

See the courses

Recent

Nov 2026

Bok choy study makes the cover of HortScience

Undergraduates Ava K. Russell and Alyssa L. Clark are co-first authors of the paper.

Oct 2026

Preprint: an ice barrier in blueberry flower buds

The barrier sits at each flower primordium and is lost as its xylem trace matures.

Sep 2026

Deniz at the NCERA-101 meeting in Scotland

The USDA multistate committee on controlled environment technology and use met in Scotland this year.

Aug 2026

Alyssa L. Clark takes third place at ASHS

Her bok choy poster placed third in the undergraduate competition at the ASHS Annual Conference in Dallas.

All news

Support

USDA National Institute of Food and AgricultureHydroponic spinach roots, 2026 to 2028
NASACrops on serpentine and saline soils
University of Rhode IslandCollege of the Environment and Life Sciences

Research

Plants under defined stress

Five lines of work share one approach: put a plant under a stress we can control, look closely at its anatomy and physiology, and connect what we see to how the crop performs.

Root-zone oxygen in hydroponics

How much oxygen do roots in water need?

In deep water culture the whole root system lives in the nutrient solution, so dissolved oxygen sets the limit on what roots can do. Too little and roots suffocate. What happens when a solution holds far more oxygen than air would give it is much less clear.

We grow crops across a dissolved oxygen gradient that runs from hypoxia to hypersaturation and follow the consequences through the plant: root anatomy and tissue composition, the hydraulic cost of a smaller root system, and shoot growth. The goal is thresholds a grower can manage to.

Air saturation

HypoxiaHypersaturation

Schematic, not to scale. Water in equilibrium with air holds about 9 mg/L of oxygen at 20 °C. Our treatments run below and above that point.

Leafy greens growing in round black tanks on a greenhouse bench, with a gas cylinder standing between the tanks and LED lights overhead — Deep water culture tanks from a dissolved oxygen experiment in the greenhouse.

System: Deep water culture
We measure: Root anatomy, tissue composition, plant hydraulics, growth
People: Jesse R. Zapata (MS thesis), Shalyne Scott (PhD)
Reading: Scott and Villouta 2026, a review of dissolved oxygen and Pythium in strawberry NFT

Root exudates and carbon allocation

What do roots release into the solution, and what does it cost?

Roots release organic acids, sugars, amino acids, and other metabolites. In soil these compounds feed microbes and free up nutrients. In a recirculating hydroponic system they stay in the solution, and their effect on the crop is poorly understood.

Spinach is our model: a crop with strong potential for indoor production that is harder to grow in water than lettuce. We compare root form and exudate composition in hydroponic and soil-grown plants, test how root-zone temperature shifts both, and ask whether exudates contribute to stress or lost yield.

Schematic. In soil, what a root releases is taken up by microbes close to it. In a recirculating system the same compounds stay in the solution and pass the roots again.

Spinach plants growing in rows of white hydroponic channels under LED lights on a greenhouse bench — Spinach in nutrient film technique channels in the greenhouse.

Crop: Spinach
Systems: Nutrient film technique and substrate-grown plants
Methods: Root scanning and image analysis, root anatomy, untargeted metabolomics
People: Deniz Çamlı-Saunders (PhD), Ava K. Russell
Support: USDA NIFA, $296,000, 2026 to 2028. One of 10 projects funded nationally.
Reading: Camli-Saunders and Villouta 2025; Camli-Saunders, Russell, and Villouta 2026

Crops on serpentine and saline soils

What do roots do in soil that works against them?

Serpentine soils are low in calcium relative to magnesium, short on nutrients, and often carry nickel and chromium. Saline soils add osmotic stress and toxic ions. Both push roots to their limits, which makes them useful for learning how crops cope.

With lettuce and tomato, we look at how these soils change what roots exude and, using CO₂ isotope labeling, how much newly fixed carbon the plant sends belowground. For the serpentine work we make our own soil simulant, ground from serpentinite rock.

Schematic. The plant takes up labeled CO₂, so the label marks the carbon it has just fixed. Following it shows how much goes belowground, how much leaves the roots, and where it ends up in the soil.

Three students at a workbench under a canopy hood, with a rock grinder and a blast cabinet on the bench. One wears a respirator and another a face shield. — Students grinding serpentinite rock to make the soil simulant.

Crops: Lettuce, tomato
Methods: Root exudate profiling, CO₂ isotope labeling to trace carbon
People: Shalyne Scott (PhD)
Support: NASA

Cold hardiness and freezing injury

Where does ice form, and what survives it?

Camilo's work on cranberry showed how a bud gets through winter. Some tissues freeze while others stay free of ice: a barrier at the bud base blocks ice from spreading in from the stem, and water leaves the inner bud toward ice elsewhere, a strategy called freeze dehydration. To watch it happen, the team built a device that cools and freezes intact samples inside an MRI scanner.

The lab continues this line with bud anatomy and freezing injury in specialty crops, including blueberry, and with collaborators studying how conifers tolerate freezing and drought together.

Schematic of a cranberry bud in section, not to scale. A barrier at the bud base keeps stem ice out. Water leaves the inner bud toward ice in the outer scales, so the flower primordia dehydrate instead of freezing.

Three grayscale thermal images of a bud on a stem, side by side. Yellow arrowheads sit on the stem in the first frame, at the base of the bud in the second, and on the bud itself in the third, where the bud appears brighter. — Infrared thermal recording of a *Vaccinium* bud during freezing. Arrowheads mark how far the freezing has advanced in three successive frames.

Crops: Cranberry, highbush blueberry, conifers
Methods: Controlled freezing tests, infrared thermography, magnetic resonance imaging, microscopy
People: Camilo Villouta, Ava K. Russell
Reading: Tree Physiology 2020; Plant Methods 2021; Frontiers in Plant Science 2022; The Hidden Ice of Plants; Villouta, Russell, and Acevedo 2026, a preprint on blueberry flower buds

Greenhouse films and light

Can a covering film improve the light a winter crop gets?

Winter production in the Northeast is squeezed by short days and heating costs. New greenhouse covering films promise help: light-converting films that shift part of the sunlight spectrum toward wavelengths crops use well, and films that diffuse light or hold heat.

We test these materials the way a grower would judge them, by the crop underneath: plant development, morphology, physiology, and yield. In our first trial, a semi-transparent light conservation film over winter butterhead lettuce reduced supplemental LED energy use and tipburn without compromising growth or leaf physiology. A second trial asks whether infrared-blocking films can keep a greenhouse cooler in summer.

Schematic. Both films let sunlight through. The light conservation film also turns stray light from the LEDs back toward the crop. In our winter lettuce trial, the lights used about 9% less electricity under it.

Two bench-top frames wrapped in plastic film inside a glass greenhouse at dusk, lit from within. The film on the right frame shows rainbow patterns. — Test frames from the film trial: one covered with the light conservation film, the other with a control film.

Setting: Greenhouse production in the Northeast
We measure: Development, morphology, gas exchange, yield
Partners: Engineers and materials scientists
People: Camilo Villouta, Deniz Çamlı-Saunders, Shalyne Scott, Ava K. Russell, Alyssa L. Clark, Noah Antonellis
Reading: Villouta et al. 2026, a light conservation film over winter butterhead lettuce

People

The people behind the experiments

Principal investigator

Camilo Villouta

Assistant Professor of Controlled Environment Agriculture · he/his

I'm an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology at the University of Rhode Island. I study how crops grow in greenhouses and hydroponic systems, with most of my attention on roots, and how plant tissues survive freezing. I teach greenhouse and nursery production, fruit culture, and controlled environment agriculture, and I like my students to learn by growing the crops themselves.

Outside of work I like animation and illustration, and I recently took up linocut printing. I also listen to a lot of soundtracks.

Putnam Fellow, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 2023 Ph.D. Horticulture, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2021 B.Sc. Horticultural Science, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, 2012

Graduate students

Deniz Çamlı-Saunders

Ph.D. candidate · he/they

I'm Deniz, a Ph.D. candidate interested in the application of controlled environment agriculture for sustainable food systems. I research the development and morphology of spinach root systems. Specifically, I aim to understand how roots develop in hydroponic versus soil conditions, and how growers and researchers can apply that to build a more robust, resilient food system. I also work on identifying and quantifying the root exudates in these systems, to help create a database of such compounds for researchers and farmers. Outside of the lab, I enjoy sailing, reading, and tinkering with backyard garden and greenhouse projects.

B.S. Sustainable Food and Farming, Purdue University B.A. Political Science, Purdue University

Shalyne Scott

Ph.D. student · she/her

Plants have always been a huge part of my life. Some of my earliest and most cherished memories are pulling carrots from the garden with my grandmother. My early love for plants grew into a passion for horticulture, which led me to earn a B.S. in Plant Sciences with a focus in ornamental horticulture from URI. My research now centers on root stress: how dissolved oxygen shapes root function in hydroponic systems, and how crop roots respond to saline and serpentine soils, which I study through root exudates and carbon tracking with isotopes. Beyond my academic interests, I'm passionate about animals and the natural world. I also maintain an extensive collection of houseplants and outdoor gardens of my own.

B.S. Plant Sciences, University of Rhode Island

Jesse R. Zapata

M.S. student · he/him/hen

Jesse came to plant science from psychology. He first studied how people develop and, as the pressures of climate change mounted, turned to how food is grown. He describes the mission as unchanged: improving the human condition through science. Before joining the lab in fall 2026 he assisted in the biology greenhouse at the George Washington University, worked as a field technician on the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources invasive species survey, and gardened professionally, including a garden that took second place in the shade category of the 2019 Boston Mayor's Garden Contest. His thesis follows deep water culture crops across a dissolved oxygen gradient, from hypoxia to hypersaturation, and asks how oxygen supply changes root anatomy and what a smaller root system costs the plant in water transport and growth. He has also worked as a wilderness guide in northern Appalachia.

B.A. Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston

Undergraduate researchers

Ava K. Russell

Undergraduate researcher · she/her

I am pursuing a Plant Sciences B.S. and a Biology B.A. with a specialty in sustainable crop production. I have a passion for all things botany, food sustainability, and science communication, and I bring my connection to nature into all aspects of my education and work, with conservation and generativity at the forefront. In URI's Controlled Environment Agriculture Lab I've worked with Dr. Camilo Villouta and Deniz Çamlı-Saunders on projects ranging from in-depth spinach root analysis to Vaccinium corymbosum bud microscopy.

B.S. Plant Sciences and B.A. Biology, University of Rhode Island, in progress

Alyssa L. Clark

Undergraduate researcher · she/her

I'm a senior pursuing a B.S. in Plant Sciences with a concentration in ornamental horticulture and a minor in Wildlife and Conservation Biology. I love everything to do with botany (especially trees), horticulture, and environmental education. In the Villouta Lab I, alongside Ava Russell, conducted a research project on the physiology of bok choy grown in different propagation media. In summer 2026 I was able to bring this research to the American Society for Horticultural Science national conference in Dallas, Texas. Outside of the lab I enjoy hiking, birdwatching, and live music.

B.S. Plant Sciences, minor in Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Rhode Island, in progress

Noah Antonellis

Undergraduate researcher · he/his

I am a Plant Sciences student concentrating in Sustainable Crop Production. In summer 2026, I had the incredible opportunity of working with Dr. Camilo Villouta at the CEA Lab, researching how IR-blocking films can reduce internal temperatures in greenhouses. Now I assist my coworkers with their research projects, ranging from hydroponics to soil research. Sustainable crop production methods endlessly fascinate me, and I hope to someday be a head grower at a hydroponics facility. I am incredibly grateful for the experiences that Dr. Camilo Villouta and the CEA Lab have offered me.

B.S. Plant Sciences, University of Rhode Island, in progress

Alumni

Angelique AcevedoDaRin Butz Research Fellow, summer 2023, mentored at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Went on to graduate school at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Emily LancasterDaRin Butz Research Fellow, summer 2022, mentored at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Went on to graduate school at Purdue University.

Publications

Articles, preprints, and other writing

Names in bold are lab members. For questions about a paper, write to any of its authors. The full list, with citation counts, is on Google Scholar.

On the cover

HortScience 61(11), 2026 Bok choy in NFT
Physiologia Plantarum 172(4), 2021 Freezing damage in cranberry buds
Tree Physiology 40(7), 2020 How cranberry buds survive freezing
Journal of the ASHS 144(5), 2019 Cranberry floral meristems in winter

Peer-reviewed articles

2026

Russell AK, Clark AL, Villouta C. Propagation medium alters root allocation and leaf form but not marketable yield of bok choy grown by nutrient film technique. HortScience 61(11):2516-2525.

Cover featureRussell and Clark are co-first authorsdoi:10.21273/HORTSCI19744-26

2026

Villouta C, Camli-Saunders D, Scott S, Russell AK, Clark AL. Semi-transparent light conservation greenhouse film reduces supplemental LED energy use and tipburn incidence without compromising growth or leaf physiology in winter butterhead lettuce. HortScience 61(7):1575-1587.

doi:10.21273/HORTSCI19463-26

2026

Scott S, Villouta C. Dissolved oxygen limitation and Pythium root rot in strawberry NFT systems: mechanisms, research gaps, and prospects for substrate-free production. Frontiers in Plant Science 17:1829367.

doi:10.3389/fpls.2026.1829367

2025

Camli-Saunders D, Villouta C. Root exudates in controlled environment agriculture: composition, function, and future directions. Frontiers in Plant Science 16:1567707.

doi:10.3389/fpls.2025.1567707

2022

Villouta C, Workmaster BA, Livingston DP, Atucha A. Acquisition of freezing tolerance in Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait. is a multi-factor process involving the presence of an ice barrier at the bud base. Frontiers in Plant Science 13:891488.

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.891488

2021

Villouta C, Workmaster BA, Atucha A. Freezing stress damage and growth viability in Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait. bud structures. Physiologia Plantarum 172(4):2238-2250.

Cover featureFull text on PubMed Central

2021

Villouta C, Cox BL, Rauch B, Workmaster BA, Eliceiri KW, Atucha A. A device for the controlled cooling and freezing of excised plant specimens during magnetic resonance imaging. Plant Methods 17(1):1-11.

doi:10.1186/s13007-021-00743-4

2020

Villouta C, Workmaster BA, Bolivar-Medina J, Sinclair S, Atucha A. Freezing stress survival mechanisms in Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait. terminal buds. Tree Physiology 40(7):841-855.

Cover featuredoi:10.1093/treephys/tpaa028

2019

Bolivar-Medina JL, Villouta C, Workmaster BA, Atucha A. Floral meristem development in cranberry apical buds during winter rest and its implication on yield prediction. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 144(5):314-320.

Cover featuredoi:10.21273/JASHS04691-19

Preprints

2026

Villouta C, Russell AK, Acevedo AA. A primordium-level ice barrier in Vaccinium corymbosum floral buds is lost as their xylem trace matures. bioRxiv.

doi:10.64898/2026.10.29.762774

2026

Camli-Saunders D, Russell AK, Villouta C. Comparative analysis of root morphology in several spinach (Spinacia oleracea) varieties: field vs hydroponic growth systems. bioRxiv.

doi:10.64898/2026.04.07.717006

2026

Scott S, Villouta C. Understanding barriers to strawberry NFT and substrate-free production: the role of dissolved oxygen limitation and Pythium root rot. Preprints.org.

Now published in Frontiers in Plant Sciencedoi:10.20944/preprints202603.1147.v1

Essays and dissertation

2022

Villouta C. The hidden ice of plants. Arnoldia 79(4):11-13.

Read at the Arnold Arboretum

2021

Villouta C. Cold hardiness of cranberry buds: survival mechanisms, dynamics, and methodological advances. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Selected talks and posters

2026

Camli-Saunders D. A comparative analysis of root morphology in various spinach varieties: field vs hydroponic growth systems. Arnold Arboretum Research Talks, Harvard University, March 9.

Talk page

2025

Camli-Saunders D, Villouta C. A comparative analysis of root morphology in various spinach varieties: field vs hydroponic growth. Poster, American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Conference, July 29.

Conference listing

2021

Villouta C. Cranberry bud cold hardiness: survival mechanisms, dynamics, and methodological advances. Arnold Arboretum Research Talks, Harvard University, October 4.

Talk page

Teaching

Courses at the University of Rhode Island

Camilo teaches fruit crops, horticultural production, and controlled environment agriculture. The courses pair the science with hands-on work in the greenhouse.

PLS 311

Fruit Culture

Spring · 3 credits · 2 h lecture, 2 h lab

Fruit crops adapted to the Northeastern United States: how they are classified and built, how they are propagated, how the environment shapes them, and the practices behind a good crop, from planting and pruning to the harvest and storage of tree and small fruits.

Prerequisite: BIO 102 or PLS 150, or permission of the instructor.

PLS 331

Horticultural Plant Production

Fall · 4 credits · 3 h lecture, 3 h lab

An intensive course in nursery and greenhouse production that combines lectures, lab activities, and field trips. Students grow a poinsettia crop from propagation through harvest while learning irrigation, fertility, pruning, pest management, and environmental control. The course also covers business planning.

Prerequisite: BIO 102 or PLS 150, or permission of the instructor. PLS 215 (Plant Propagation) is strongly recommended.

PLS 402

Seminar in Controlled Environment Agriculture

Offered since 2025

A seminar on current research and practice in controlled environment agriculture.

PLS 425X / 525X

Advanced Hydroponics

Fall, new in 2026 · 4 credits · 2 h lecture, 3 h lab

A practical, quantitative course built around real production problems. Students learn to monitor, troubleshoot, and improve water, nutrients, climate, and lighting for high-performing crops, and they finish with a production plan of their own.

Prerequisite for PLS 425X: PLS 150 or BIO 102, plus PLS 325, and junior standing. PLS 525X is for graduate students.

Students among greenhouse benches full of red, white, and pink poinsettias. One student in front checks a pink plant. — Students in PLS 331 with the poinsettia crop they grew in the course.

News

Grants, papers, talks, and people

2026

Nov 2026

Bok choy study makes the cover of HortScience

Ava K. Russell and Alyssa L. Clark, both undergraduates, are co-first authors of a study with Camilo showing that the propagation medium changes root allocation and leaf form in bok choy grown by nutrient film technique, but not marketable yield. Photos from the experiment are on the cover of the November issue.

Read the article

Oct 2026

Preprint: an ice barrier in blueberry flower buds

Camilo, Ava, and lab alumna Angelique Acevedo report an ice barrier at the level of the individual flower primordium in highbush blueberry buds, one that is lost as the primordium's xylem trace matures.

Read on bioRxiv

Sep 2026

Deniz at the NCERA-101 meeting in Scotland

Deniz attended this year's meeting of NCERA-101, the USDA multistate committee on controlled environment technology and use. Camilo is URI's representative to the committee.

Aug 2026

Alyssa L. Clark takes third place at ASHS

Alyssa's poster on bok choy, prepared with Ava K. Russell and Camilo, placed third in the undergraduate poster competition at the American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Conference in Dallas.

Jul 2026

Greenhouse film study published in HortScience

Camilo, Deniz, Shalyne, Ava, and Alyssa report that a semi-transparent light conservation film over winter butterhead lettuce reduced supplemental LED energy use and tipburn without compromising growth or leaf physiology.

Read the article

Summer 2026

Noah Antonellis joins the lab

Noah started as a summer research fellow through URI's College of the Environment and Life Sciences and is staying on for the academic year.

Jun 16, 2026

Morticia, URI's corpse flower, blooms

URI's titan arum opened on the night of June 16 in the Horridge Conservatory, the first corpse flower bloom on campus in 13 years. More than 4,000 visitors came, and the livestream drew nearly 650,000 views. Greenhouse manager Ben Robbins and student Daniel Meservey cared for the plant and hosted the crowds. Camilo covered the bloom on the department's Instagram, @uri.plantsciences, and afterward dissected the spent bloom on camera to show how a corpse flower is built.

Read the URI News story

May 13, 2026

Strawberry review published in Frontiers in Plant Science

Shalyne and Camilo's review of dissolved oxygen limitation and Pythium root rot in strawberry NFT, first posted as a preprint in March, covers the mechanisms, the research gaps, and the prospects for substrate-free production.

Read the article

Apr 14, 2026

USDA funds our spinach root research

A two-year, $296,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture supports our work on root exudates and root-zone temperature in hydroponic spinach. It was one of 10 projects funded nationally and the only one in the Northeast.

Read the URI News story

Apr 10, 2026

Preprint: spinach roots in hydroponics and in substrate

Deniz, Ava, and Camilo report that the growing system shapes spinach root morphology more than the cultivar does.

Read on bioRxiv

Mar 24, 2026

Ava K. Russell earns a DaRin Butz internship at the Arnold Arboretum

Ava was selected for the DaRin Butz Foundation Research Internship Program at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, a competitive 10-week summer research program. She spent the summer in William Friedman's lab, which studies plant development and evolutionary history.

Read the URI story

Mar 16, 2026

Preprint: why strawberry struggles in NFT

Shalyne and Camilo review how dissolved oxygen depletion and Pythium root rot combine to limit strawberry in nutrient film technique.

Read on Preprints.org

Mar 9, 2026

Deniz speaks at the Arnold Arboretum

Deniz presented the spinach root work in the Arnold Arboretum Research Talks series at Harvard University.

Talk page

2025

Fall 2025

Pulseritas de Amistad with a Latinx Scientist

Camilo was the scientist at this Hispanic Heritage Month event at URI.

Jul 29, 2025

Poster at the ASHS annual conference

Deniz presented a comparison of root morphology in spinach cultivars grown in the field and in hydroponics.

Conference listing

2025

Review published in Frontiers in Plant Science

Deniz and Camilo review what is known about root exudates in controlled environment agriculture: their composition, their function, and the open questions.

Read the article

2025

Northeast Greenhouse Conference program

Camilo helped build the program for the Northeast Greenhouse Conference and Expo, where he has been a board member since 2023.

2024

Fall 2024

Cafecito with a Latinx Scientist

Camilo took part in URI's Hispanic Heritage Month programming.

2024

Shalyne Scott begins her Ph.D.

Shalyne, a URI Plant Sciences graduate, joined the lab as a doctoral student.

2023

The lab opens at URI

Camilo joined the Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology as Assistant Professor of Controlled Environment Agriculture, and Deniz Çamlı-Saunders joined as the lab's first Ph.D. student.

2022

Dec 2022

The Hidden Ice of Plants

Camilo's essay in Arnoldia on how cranberry buds survive freezing, written during his Putnam Fellowship at the Arnold Arboretum.

Read the essay

How crops handle stress, from oxygen-starved roots to frozen buds.

What we work on

Root-zone oxygen

Root exudates and carbon

Serpentine and saline soils

Cold hardiness and freezing injury

Greenhouse films and light

Working with the lab

Growers and industry

Collaborators and funders

URI students

Recent

Bok choy study makes the cover of HortScience

Preprint: an ice barrier in blueberry flower buds

Deniz at the NCERA-101 meeting in Scotland

Alyssa L. Clark takes third place at ASHS

Support

Plants under defined stress

Root-zone oxygen in hydroponics

Root exudates and carbon allocation

Crops on serpentine and saline soils

Cold hardiness and freezing injury

Greenhouse films and light

The people behind the experiments

Principal investigator

Camilo Villouta

Graduate students

Deniz Çamlı-Saunders

Shalyne Scott

Jesse R. Zapata

Undergraduate researchers

Ava K. Russell

Alyssa L. Clark

Noah Antonellis

Alumni

Articles, preprints, and other writing

On the cover

Peer-reviewed articles

Preprints

Essays and dissertation

Selected talks and posters

Courses at the University of Rhode Island

Fruit Culture

Horticultural Plant Production

Seminar in Controlled Environment Agriculture

Advanced Hydroponics

Grants, papers, talks, and people

2026

Bok choy study makes the cover of HortScience

Preprint: an ice barrier in blueberry flower buds

Deniz at the NCERA-101 meeting in Scotland

Alyssa L. Clark takes third place at ASHS

Greenhouse film study published in HortScience

Noah Antonellis joins the lab

Morticia, URI's corpse flower, blooms

Strawberry review published in Frontiers in Plant Science

USDA funds our spinach root research

Preprint: spinach roots in hydroponics and in substrate

Ava K. Russell earns a DaRin Butz internship at the Arnold Arboretum

Preprint: why strawberry struggles in NFT

Deniz speaks at the Arnold Arboretum

2025

Pulseritas de Amistad with a Latinx Scientist

Poster at the ASHS annual conference

Review published in Frontiers in Plant Science

Northeast Greenhouse Conference program

2024

Cafecito with a Latinx Scientist

Shalyne Scott begins her Ph.D.

2023

The lab opens at URI

2022

The Hidden Ice of Plants

Write to the lab