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August 2007
Green Machine
Professor Rick Hazlett's students are working on a solar rover to
bring power -- and tea service -- to the organic Farm. And a harvest
festival is planned for the fall.
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By Mary Marvin
 A
new tearoom is scheduled to open on campus next fall. It won’t have
scones or cucumber sandwiches, but it will have something most tearooms
don’t have—
its own solar rover. Built by students as part of an independent study
class, the rover will make its home at the organic Farm on south campus,
where it will be used to power a hot plate in the adobe dome’s “tearoom”
and to supply electricity for tools, lighting and sound equipment.
Named for the Mars rovers that have been exploring the red planet for
the past decade, the Pomona solar rover is the brainchild of Richard
Hazlett, professor of geology and environmental analysis, and Juan
Araya, Farm technician. “Five students will work with us this fall as
part of an independent study called ‘Inventing Solar Energy,’” says
Hazlett. “They’ll learn how solar power works and then they’ll actually
put together a portable power station.” Anchored to a flat garden cart,
the rover will be about the size of an office desk and will be equipped
with four solar panels and storage cell batteries. It may also have a
small biodiesel generator that can produce fuel for gasoline-powered
equipment.
Although the rover won’t be able to move on its own like its Martian
namesakes, it could be ported around campus to supply electricity for
the sound systems at graduation or a rock music performance at Walker
Beach. Its main mission, however, will be generating electricity on
south campus as part of a larger effort to make the Farm sustainable,
says Hazlett. “There is so much that is already happening or in the
planning stages. This fall a student will do an independent study in
bio-intensive cultivation. The idea is to maximize the amount of crop
coming off a piece of land—about 120 square feet—with little external
input aside from the seeds.” Other projects being discussed include a
pond that will filtrate with solar power and wind turbines that can
store electricity on site.
 The
Farm, which was started by students along the Wash almost 10 years ago,
now has an orchard of about 60 trees, as well as plantings of perennial
shrubs, berries, herbs, flowers and annual vegetables. Last year, a
section of land near the dome became a part of the Environmental
Analysis Department, serving as a laboratory for the Farms and Gardens
course. “In essence, we’re building a human-engineered ecosystem, which
brings another dimension to the department,” says Hazlett. “Just as with
any of the sciences, it’s important for students to get out there and
put theory into practice.”
In addition to efforts to increase sustainability, students have
continued to work on the dome, which will be used to store tools and
seeds and as a gathering place with a reference library, exhibit space,
and, of course, a self-service tearoom. Bamboo furniture, made by
students during the summer, will supply seating inside the dome and will
replace the Farm’s rusting collection of outdoor furniture. Many of
these improvements will be on display at the first annual Harvest
Festival in late October, when the rover will power up the lights for a
schedule of events ranging from bluegrass and apple dunking to pumpkin
carving and pie eating contests.
 “The
Farm is meant to be a facility that can serve a lot of interests—from
students who continue to plant their own gardens to archeology classes
that will be able come here and use the reeds from the pond to make
cordage in the same way Native Americans did,” says Hazlett. “We’d like
to see more student art projects and maybe even a play staged here. So
on this little God’s green acre, there is a lot we can do. I like to
tell people, ‘You haven’t seen anything yet.’”
Read more about:
The Farm
Sustainability at Pomona:
Students take
the lead
Green-friendly buildings
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