The Biology Facilities
The Department of Biological Sciences is located in the Brodie Complex, a modern laboratory facility. Laboratories in the complex are equipped for both routine and many specialized types of biological research. General support facilities include a greenhouse and various controlled environment rooms for housing both aquatic and terrestrial organisms, an herbarium containing more than 100,000 specimens, cold rooms, dark rooms and specialized laboratories to support research in molecular genetics, cellular and organismal physiology, and ecology and environmental biology. The department has ethernet connection to the university's centralized computer systems, including connection to the World Wide Web and e-mail. The department also maintains a centralized microcomputer laboratory which is available for student use. The department owns the Hazelwood Botanical Preserve, a 70-acre forest designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior and located approximately 15 miles north of campus. Many other field sites are also located within easy driving distance of campus and the department maintains a field vehicle to support field research. The main university library is located adjacent to the Brodie Complex and the Chemistry/Biology branch library, containing 56,000 volumes, is located within the Brodie Complex. The university libraries are completely computerized and computer-based searches can be performed from individual faculty microcomputers or from computer terminals available in the main and branch libraries. Several databases are available and the university also participates in Ohio Link, which provides computer access to the entire collections of 17 member universities.
Other Available Facilities
A number of faculty and graduate students in our department engage in research collaborations with scientists from other departments and colleges at UC (Chemistry, Geology, Geography, Environmental Health, Environmental Engineering) and are members of multidisciplinary research teams (Biomedical Chemistry Research Center, Institute for Developmental Research, Earth System Science Program). Faculty are also involved with local institutions like the Cincinnati Zoo Center for Research on Endangered Wildlife (C.R.E.W.), the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Center for Environmental Assessment-Cincinnati Research Laboratory. Several researchers from these institutions serve as adjunct faculty in our department, assisting in the supervision of graduate students and occasionally teaching graduate courses in their specialty.