Our Facilities

The Ecodome is a 3,100-square-foot greenhouse used in sustainable food systems research projects and urban agriculture production. The greenhouse is home to aquaponics and hydroponics systems, demonstrating sustainable food production in a controlled setting. Learn more about our urban agriculture initiative and sustainable food systems research.

Aquaponics offers solutions to fish farmers who dispose of nutrient-rich fish waste and to hydroponic growers who require constant inputs of nutrient additives. The systems are located indoors and operate in all seasons, allowing a continual harvest of sustainably grown produce. Learn more about our aquaponics initiative.

This aquaponic system is ornamental in design but still grows fish and produce. Students in the Solutions to Environmental Problems (STEP) course have worked to identify which crops to grow and how to process them for our yearly Farmers Market.

The Searle Biodiesel Lab houses Loyola’s award-winning Biodiesel program. Students have built a self-sustaining business by converting portions of our campus waste stream into marketable products like biodiesel for our shuttle bus systems and hand soap for our campus restrooms. 

The STEP lab hosts entrepreneurial courses exploring and creating solutions to today’s most pressing environmental issues. In previous courses, STEP Water investigated water contamination and issues related to water privatization in developing economies. STEP Food explored Loyola Dining's food procurement policies, created the Loyola Farmers Market, and initiated multiple edible garden projects across campus and the Retreat and Ecology Campus.‌ Learn more about our STEP initiative.

‌We share common spaces with San Francisco Hall, a 130,000 sq. ft. residence hall for freshman and sophomores housing our Green House Learning Community. This community of students share common classes and co-curricular activities and engage in Loyola’s initiatives to maintain a more sustainable campus.

Engrained Cafe's menu focuses on sourcing seasonal, organic, locally grown food produced within a 150-mile radius. To learn more about Engrained Cafe's sustainability initatives, visit its webpage. 

We encourage all SES students to take a class at LUREC during the summer session, where you can study nature in nature.

There are two ecology labs on the lower level at LUREC, equipped with microscopes, dissecting equipment, a freezer, and glassware along with AV equipment and a chemical hood.

The Loyola Farm has been operating since 2010 and is in full throttle towards becoming a sustainable food operation. The farm includes a hoop house, a heated greenhouse, and two acres of organic row crops. Learn more about our urban agriculture initiative.

Gardens on Loyola's Lake Shore campus demonstrate some of the best small-scale urban agriculture techniques. These gardens educate students, faculty, and staff, as well as the greater community. Currently, 20% of food produced in the gardens is donated to A Just Harvest.

Winthrop Garden is a small orchard planted by the student group Growers Guild. It includes twenty raised beds and an array of vegetables and herbs. This garden utilizes low tunnel season extension strategies to cultivate crops beyond their traditional growing season. Three-bin and single-bin compost systems provide necessary nutrients for both gardens.

The Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment Laboratory is a state-of-the-art science facility for conducting ecotoxicology research to determine the fate and effects of inorganic and organic contaminants in the ecosystem. The laboratory has water flow-through and a water recycle culture system with light cycle and temperature control to raise different aquatic organisms for research. Organisms include standard and nonstandard species.

Lab testing facilities are equipped with an automatic water exchange system for conducting water and sediment toxicology research. Testing facilities are designed to control the temperature and light cycle according to guidelines of standard test methods. The lab is also equipped with an in-house analytical facility to support ecotoxicology research. The analytical facilities include an ICP-MS for metal analysis, an IC for ion analysis, an LC-MS and GC-MS for analysis of organic contaminants, a TOC analyzer for analysis of total and dissolved organic carbons in water, a Hot Block for tissue digestion, Fluorescence/UV-VIS Spectrophotometers to measures the absorbance and fluorescence spectra of various organic contaminants, and other instruments for measuring water quality characteristics (e.g., pH, DO, conductivity, turbidity, hardness, alkalinity, etc.).

The primary research interest in this laboratory investigates the influence of chemical and physical characteristics of water, sediment, and soil on the bioavailability and toxicity of contaminants to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. We are looking to achieve the following objectives:

• Determination of the bioavailability, bioconcentration, and bioaccumulation of contaminants, including microplastics
• Evaluation of potential toxicity of individual and mixture chemicals in water, sediment, soil, and diets
• Understanding the mechanisms of toxicity
• Evaluation of the toxicity of effluent wastewaters and determine causative agent(s) through toxicity identification evaluations
• Preparation for ecological hazard and risk assessments for aquatic and terrestrial environments
• Providing guidance to optimize the efficiency of site cleanups and assist in the development of environmental quality guidelines

The Dybzinski Lab (aka “Labzinski”) focuses on two core areas of research - sustainable agriculture and the reciprocal effects of plant traits and global climate change factors. With expertise in mathematical modeling, ecosystem ecology, community ecology, game theory, field experiments, greenhouse experiments, plant physiology, and statistics, Dr. Dybzinski is prepared to advise a variety of projects involving plants.

Examples of ongoing and completed projects include:

• A field experiment to determine the ecosystem services of the more sustainable perennial wheat cultivar Kernza®
• A game-theoretic mathematical model of perennial versus annual crop types to help focus breeding efforts
• Empirical links between the carbon and nitrogen cycles via root traits
• Theoretical links between the carbon and nitrogen cycles and their effects on carbon storage under global change factors
• Building ecological realism into large-scale Earth Systems Models
• Sustainable business management: lessons from resilient ecological systems

The soaring glass ceiling that wraps around the institute serves multiple purposes: It ventilates the building, collects rainwater, and provides plenty of natural light for the plants growing inside the Ecodome.

Natural ventilation
Rising hot air is drawn out of the top of the Ecodome while computer-controlled vents allow cooler air to enter the space from below. This helps air flow through the greenhouse without mechanical assistance.

Water harvesting
The roof is designed to capture as much rainwater as possible and divert it into a 3,000-gallon cistern within the facility. This water is then reused for irrigation—and even to flush some of the toilets in the building.

Plant production
The Ecodome is a functioning greenhouse and urban farm that also serves as a living, breathing laboratory for students and faculty. The glass roof helps everything grow by filling the space with natural light.

Loyola’s Biodiesel Program is the only school-based operation licensed to produce and sell biodiesel in the United States. It is run entirely by students (with the help of one staff member) and is financially self-sufficient.

How it works

1: Collect the oil
Used vegetable oil is collected from cafeterias and filtered to remove any food debris

2: Make and heat the mixture
The filtered oil is poured into a 400-gallon tank. Potassium hydroxide and methanol are added. The oil is heated and eventually separates into two parts: biodiesel and glycerin.

3: Treat the glycerin
The glycerin is treated and turned into soap. (It can also be poured onto a compost heap to help speed decomposition.)

4: Wash the biodiesel
The biodiesel is washed with water to remove any impurities. The fuel is now ready to use.

5: Reuse the leftover water
The leftover “wash water” is treated and used to clean the next batch of biodiesel.

At 500 feet below ground, the earth’s temperature remains about 58° year-round in Chicago. This constant temperature is at the core of the geothermal system that heats and cools the institute. The 91-well system—the largest of its kind in Chicago—is extremely efficient, cutting the building’s heating and cooling costs by 30 percent.

How it works

In the winter
The wells carry coolant deep underground, where the fluid is warmed before returning. Once inside the institute, a biodiesel-fueled boiler raises the coolant’s temperature some more, and a heat exchanger draws heat from the fluid to warm the building. The liquid in the wells, now cooled, is recirculated underground and the process repeats.

In the summer
The process is reversed, with warm fluid being pumped underground to get cooled.

Aquaponics blends fish farming with soil-free agriculture to create a sustainable food production system. In the set-up at the institute, fish live in water tanks on the bottom level, while plants grow in trays on top.

How it works

The waste water from the fish tanks is pumped up to the growing beds (1), where the plants extract the nutrients they need (2). The water, now cleansed of toxins, is returned to the fish tanks (3)—and the entire process starts over (4). This “closed-loop system” requires only a small amount of electricity for the pump, a little food for the fish, and sunlight for the plants. Yet it can grow plenty of food—in the form of fresh produce and fish—to eat.