Equipment & Facilities

Facilities

The Biology Department is excited to be housed in the new Sinegal Center that opened in Fall 2021! The laboratories are illuminated by natural light through glass walls and a central atrium. The facility is state-of-the-art in all aspects, including safety. Departmental spaces include the following:

  • Introductory biology labs that are taught by our faculty
  • Teaching labs are connected to research labs
  • Students work with faculty in their research spaces
  • Study rooms throughout the Sinegal Center
  • Microbiology lab
  • Cellular and molecular biology lab
  • Ecology and field biology lab
  • Biotechnology and biochemistry lab
  • Organismal biology lab
  • Anatomy and physiology labs
  • Tissue culture room
  • Microscopy room
  • Specimens room
  • Walk-in environmental chamber
  • Walk-in marine environment
  • Walk-in cold room
  • Electron microscope lab complex, including dark room
  • Greenhouse

Equipment

The Biology Department has a collection of up-to-date equipment to complement our labs, thanks to faculty-obtained NSF grants, funding from the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust in the forms of individual faculty grants and a large grant for the purchase of microscopes, private donations, and support from our Dean and Administration with annual equipment budgets.

Some of the high visibility equipment:

  • Research grade compound microscopes for use in upper division classes with bright field, phase, dark field, fluorescence, video, and digital analysis capabilities
  • Zeiss EM 900 electron microscope
  • Laminar flow biological safety hoods
  • Molecular biology equipment, including thermocyclers, centrifuges, electrophoresis supplies
  • Real-time PCR machines
  • Solomat digital meters and data loggers for field work
  • Weatherpak radio telemetry weather station