BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT FACILITIES
AND RESOURCES
The Department of
Biology at FMU offers excellent teaching, research, and computing facilities
for undergraduate students. Located on the second floor of the McNair
Science Building and the Leatherman Science Facility, the department has
several large lecture halls, all of which have the most up-to-date multimedia
equipment: a computer-augmented instructional system with overhead projection,
VCR/DVD player, and microcamera/document camera. All rooms have wireless and wired
internet connectivity.
Within the
department, there are ten teaching laboratories, five research labs, two animal
maintenance rooms, a large seminar room, an honors classroom, prep rooms, and
faculty offices. A student computer lab is available for use in research,
coursework, and instruction.
A rooftop greenhouse
with many species of plants and ample space for student projects is a showpiece
of the Leatherman Science Facility.
Outdoor areas on and
near campus provide teaching facilities for introductory biology, upper level
botany, entomology, ornithology, invertebrate and vertebrate zoology, ecology,
and conservation biology courses. The 309-acre campus (including a 3-acre
arboretum) provides local yet diverse study sites for biology students. In
addition, university vehicles are available for field trips to the ocean,
marshes, lakes, forests, and mountains of South Carolina.
At FMU, sophisticated
techniques and equipment are employed to open up the dynamic world of research.
Equipment available for
teaching and research includes the following:
Cell and molecular
biology, microbiology, immunology:
·
fluorescence
microscope
·
microplate
reader
·
inverted
tissue culture microscope
·
dark
field and phase contrast microscopes
·
anaerobic
microbiology equipment
·
digital
photomicrography equipment
·
photomicrography
image analysis software
·
UV
spectrophotometer
·
conventional
and cryostat microtomes
·
refrigerated
centrifugation/cytobucket preparation
·
clinical
and high-speed (ultra-)centrifuges
·
IEP-agar
and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis systems
·
submarine
protein/DNA electrophoresis systems
·
Gamma
counter
·
Beta
counter/liquid scintillation system
·
Thermal
cycler for polymerase chain reaction
·
DNA
sequencing gel rig
·
pH
meters and microelectrodes
·
fermentation
and distillation equipment for fuel ethanol production
Organismal biology
and ecology:
·
environmental
chambers
·
passive
integrated transponder (PIT-tagging) system for field studies of reptiles and
amphibians
·
GIS
analysis software
·
radiotelemetry
equipment
·
oxygen
and carbon dioxide gas analyzers for metabolic studies
·
EKG,
heart rate and ventilation monitors
·
YSI
oxygen meter/thermistor for field use
·
current
meters for aquatic/stream studies
·
water
quality probes (dissolved oxygen, nitrates, pH, temperature, turbidity) and
associated computer analysis software
·
live
traps for turtles, snakes, and mammals
·
bat
detector (ultrasound converter)