Facilities & Equipment
The Biology Department offers classes, instructional laboratories and research opportunities in state-of-the-art facilities located mainly on the second floor of Pasteur Hall (renovated in 2006) and the Science Laboratory Center (built in 2003).
To prepare students for future careers in the biological sciences, students majoring in Biology will take laboratory courses and will complete a faculty-supervised student research project.
As part of the Biology curriculum, students will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the use of modern laboratory and field techniques and equipment necessary for future careers in the biological sciences.
WSU Equipment and Facilities Include
- Fully equipped animal care facility
- Fully equipped tissue culture facility
- Fully equipped clinical laboratory
- Laboratory with biohazard Level 2
- End Point and Real Time PCR machines
- Microscopy facility containing:
- Upright fluorescence microscope equipped with phase contrast and a Zeiss mRm.7 camera
- Inverted fluorescence microscope equipped with DIC optics and a Zeiss mRm.7 camera
- Scanning electron microscope
- Multi-headed microscope for teaching purposes
- Gallios 10-Color Flow Cytometer
- Ultracentrifuge and gradient fractionators
- Gel electrophoresis equipment
- Gel and blot documentation systems
- Greenhouse and herbarium complex (located on the third floor of SLC)
- Entomology collection
- Mammal collection
- Fish Invertebrate Collection
- Human Cadaver Dissection Lab
WSU is located in the bluff country near the Mississippi River Valley in Southeastern Minnesota offering prairies, woodlands and aquatic systems where students can become engaged in field investigation.
Ecology and Environmental Science will have the opportunity to perform studies using Garvin Heights and the Krueger Woods, both owned by WSU, as well as the surrounding Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
The biology department owns five boats, allowing for students to gain access to local waterways, and other ecosystems not otherwise accessible, as well as a whole host of other specialized field equipment.