Facilities
Take a look at some of the facilities available to you in the Department of Biology.
Equipment
Check out some of the equipment you'll use as a student in our department.
Quanta Scanning/Transmission Electron microscope with elemental analyzer
SpectraMax i3 Plate reader with MiniMax Imaging Cytometer. Manufacturer: Molecular Devices. Can read absorbance, fluorescence, and luminescence. Includes a western blot analysis cartridge. The MiniMax Cytometer can image life cells and quantify both by number and area.
Olympus Fluoview Confocal microscope. Quanta scanning-transmission microscope with an elemental analyzer and a Leica ultramicrotome
Olympus BX53 Fluorescent Microscope w/DIC
Perkin Elmer 2400 CHNSO Series II Elemental Analyzer and AD6000 Microbalance for the analysis of light organic elements within solid samples, including soils, sediments, plant tissues, and biological samples. The system is currently configured to measure carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. The microbalance is capable of weighing samples to a resolution of 0.1 micrograms (0.0001 milligrams).
Trimble Geocollector GPS units Mobile GIS computers for mapping and positioning
Niton XL3t GOLDD+ Field Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer (PXRF) with Laboratory Stand: Allows estimates of the inorganic elemental composition of solid samples in both the field and laboratory. We primarily use the PXRF to rapidly analyze the elemental composition of rocks, soils, and sediments, but other solid samples can be analyzed, including building materials and consumer products. The PXRF provides a near instantaneous estimate of elemental composition, with little or no sample preparation, and can be carried to remote field sites for geological or environmental investigations.
BioFlo CelliGen 115 Fermentor/ Bioreactor. A growing system for microbes that simulates natural biochemical environments. The system allows the tight control of temperature, pH, and oxygen to maximize culture growth and productivity.
Lachat QuikChem 8500 Series 2 FIA System (2 channels) for the analysis of a wide range of potential analytes in aqueous solution with a high sample throughput rate. We currently have the instrument set up to measure five analytes that are important for water and soil quality: nitate/nitrite, ammonia, total nitrogen, phosphate, and sulfate. The instrument has two channels, which allows two analytes to be measured in parallel.
Cold Room
Macroscopic Solutions Focus stacking camera: Takes high resolution focus stacked images at 1X to 100X magnifications.
epMotion 5075 robotic liquid handler. Manufacturer: Eppendorf
Can be programmed to set up and run reactions in multiwell plates. Includes a thermal plate and a magnet plate for magnetic bead capture.