Our Facilities
The Biology Department is located within the Cora and Bayard Clarkson Science Center, a building that houses the administrative, teaching and research facilities of the School of Arts & Sciences.
The research mission of the department complements our curriculum by providing individual project-based learning opportunities in the field and in state-of-the-art facilities.
The department also has a wide range of equipment and facilities for use in research involving:
Cell biology
Ecology
Histology
Molecular Science/Genetic Engineering
Physiology/Behavior
Protein Chemistry/Biotechnology
The biology teaching labs are large and have recently been completely renovated and updated.
Our general facilities include:
- Freezers at -20 and -70 degrees for maintenance of tissue, protein and DNA sample
- Incubators at 4, 15, 37, 45, 60 degrees — maintenance and growth of bacterial, cell and tissue cultures
- Two autoclaves to support cell biology and microbiology labs that require sterile supplies
- MilliQ Water System for preparation of ultra-pure water for cell culture and other technical applications
- Fume hoods for working with hazardous chemicals
- Liquid nitrogen freezers for long-term cryopreservation of cell cultures
- Networked PCs for hands-on problem solving in molecular biology and ecology teaching laboratories
Cell Biology Equipment & Facilities
- Multiple inverted photomicroscopes and fluorescent microscopes for high-power observation of cell and tissue cultures
- CO2 incubators for maintenance of cell and tissue cultures
- Shaking incubators for bacterial cell cultures
- Laminar flow hoods for manipulation and transfer of cell cultures in a sterile environment
- Biosafety hoods for manipulation of human tissues and pathogens
- Stereo Microscopes for observation of biological samples and microdissection
- Cryomed Freezers for cryopreservation of cells in liquid nitrogen
- Probe sonicator for lysing cells and extracting macromolecules
- Kodak photography system and software for digital capture of images and analysis of colony size and area
Ecology Equipment and Facilities
- Hess and Serber Stream Samplers for collection of invertebrates from stream environments
- R/V Raquette 16 ft aluminum v-hull 25 hp boat for small lake and river work
- Ponar and Ekman Benthic Dredges for collection of invertebrates from deep water habitats
- Zooplankton net (0.6 m diameter, 65 µm) for collection of zooplankton and phytoplankton
- Compound and Stereo Microscopes for observation of invertebrate organisms
- Percival Programmable Incubators for culture of plants and insects under natural light and temperature cycles
- Coulter Multisizer 3 for plankton size enumeration and sizing
- Fluoroprobe submersible fluorometer for characterizing pigmented plankton communities
- Hester-Dendy samplers for characterizing colonization by lake and stream aquatic invertebrates
- Depth finder and global positioning systems
- YSI multiprobe submersible conductivity, temperature, depth, pH, dissolved oxygen sounder with 100 ft cable; for characterizing water column properties in lakes
- R/V Santa Clara 14 ft aluminum flat-bottom row boat for shallow water work
- R/V Lavinia 25 ft, 2 x 150 hp, Boston Whaler/Challenger, 25 mile radar, marine radio, DGPS; for large lake and St. Lawrence River work
- Turner Designs model AU-10 fluorometer for detection of colored dissolved organic matter, chlorophyll and other phytoplankton pigments, with flow through cell
- ArcView Geographic Information System software
- Van Dorn, Niskin, and Go-Flo bottles for collecting water samples at depth
- Radio tracking receivers and digital range finder
- Hand held geographic positioning system (GPS) units
- Spotting scopes and binoculars
- Video cameras and monitors
Histology Equipment and Facilities
- Cryostat – preparation of frozen tissue sections
- Sorval Ultramicrotome – preparation of thin sections for electron microscopy
- LKB Knife Maker – preparation of glass knives for cutting thin sections
- Reichert Microtome – preparation of thick tissue sections for light microscopy
- Tissue Tek Staining Station – staining of tissue sections for light microscopy
- Tissue Tek Paraffin Dispenser – embedding of cell and tissue samples for histological analysis
Molecular Biology/Genetic Engineering Equipment & Facilities
- Digital gel photography systems for recording and analysis of results of gel electrophoresis
- Thermocyclers for amplification of DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
- Horizontal gel boxes and power packs for separation of DNA and RNA molecules
- Turbo-blotter for rapid preparation of Southern blots for DNA analysis
- U.V. Cross linker for attaching DNA to nylon filters
- SequiGene Vertical Gel Apparatus for sequencing DNA
- Gene Pulser Electroporator for rapid transformation of genetically engineered bacteria
- Bellco hybridization ovens for incubation of Southern blots with nucleotide probes
- X-ray film processor for detection of autoradiographic and chemiluminescent signals
- Luminometer for analysis of transient transfection with luciferase reporter genes
- BioRad Smartspec spectrophotometers for measurement of DNA and RNA concentrations
- Beckman centrifuges for fractionation of macromolecules
- Polygraphs for recording of nerve impulses
- WPI High Impedance Amplifiers for recording of intracellular action potentials
- Actographs for monitoring of activity from invertebrate animals
- Recirculating Seawater System for maintenance of living marine specimens
- Biopac Physiology hardware and software for experimental analysis of factors such as EKG and EEG
- Patch clamp system for analysis of single cells
- Extremely fine pipette maker to pull micropipettes for probing single cells
Protein Chemistry/Biotechnology
- BioRad mini gel boxes for SDS PAGE and Western blotting
- Liquid Scintillation Counter for quantification of radioactive label in biological compounds
- Hoeffer and BioRad Vertical Gel Apparatus for separation of protein by size and charge
- BioRad Chromatography Unit for separation of macromolecules by size, shape, charge and affinity
- Savant SpeedVac for concentration and purification of dilute protein samples
- BioRad Gel Dryer for stabilization of agarose and PAGE gels for autoradiography and storage
- Pharmacia PhastSystem for rapid separation of protein samples
- Cecil CE3021 spectrophotometer and BioRad smartspec 3000 for protein determination
- Multiple high pressure liquid chromatography systems for protein purification
- Bilayer system for studying kinetics of drug and ion channel interactions
- Spectrofluorimeter for detection of fluorescent molecules and quantification of protein-protein interaction
- Silicon Graphics Fuel workstation with Insight II software for modeling biological molecules in three dimensions
