Professor helps 'grow' economic possibilities with greenhouse project

September 18, 2006 —

by Brandon Kish

David Swenson stands next to a hydroponics unit in the University's greenhouse located off of North Michigan Ave. Swenson hopes the greenhouse's construction will be done before winter.

Dr. David Swenson joined Saginaw Valley State University in 1996 as the H.H. Dow Endowed Chair of Chemistry. He teaches introductory chemistry, environmental chemistry and biochemistry courses here on campus. While classes are important to him, his research is what he really invests his time in.

His primary research, at the moment, is funded by the Allen Foundation of Midland and is based around nutrition and how it can affect the economy. He refers to this research as his "greenhouse project."

The idea behind the project is to use wastewater and cheap energy as a means to grow prawn, tilapia, and various greens-such as tomatoes, berries, and specialty peppers. The demand for organically grown products is far higher than the supply.

So, while the research is fundamentally scientific, the economic realities of Mid-Michigan are what inspired it.

Swenson's research aims to develop and refine methods to efficiently produce the greens, prawn, and fish for minimum energy and financial input in a high-demand area. The products can then be shipped to large metropolitan areas - such as Detroit or Chicago - at a substantially reduced cost. He noted that the average tomato is shipped over 1500 miles from the plant to the table, "and they taste like it."

The greenhouse project would produce goods at minimum cost, naturally, and be shipped over significantly smaller distances. This process is ideal for developing business and capital plant in the region, which will, in turn, enhance investment in the area because of the reduction of imported goods from often unstable regions.

Prawn and tilapia, though freshwater animals, normally must be shipped into the region from the South or even farther away. This means that the prawn and tilapia currently utilized in the region are not exactly fresh when received, and therefore even less fresh when served. Prawn is used primarily in Asian cuisines, particularly sushi.

Because of the economic foundations of the research, Swenson is working with professors from the Business and Management Department as well as the Biology Department - making the scale of the project larger than most he undertakes.

He sees this as a "fast way for economic growth and gain, instead of looking at long term economic benefits, which is what many biochemistry projects in today's world are aimed at."

Swenson feels that it is his obligation as an educated individual to do something worthwhile for the society that helped educate him and the underprivileged. He wrote an article for the Alumni Newsletter explaining this ideology and concept, dubbed "noblesse oblige." Furthermore, this is why he intertwines all of his research and projects with economics and business.

Swenson is also currently assisting SVSU professors Dr. Chris Schilling and Dr. David Karpovich with research concerning the development of alternative fuel sources in the region, and the economic benefits of such research.

He says that there is a lot of research he still wants to do, and he figures that he has about ten good years of research life left in him. "Assuming the plastic parts in my body don't fail before then.”