Slippery Rock University Herbarium

The Slippery Rock University herbarium (SLRO) was founded in approximately 1930. The facility, located in Vincent Science Hall 105G, houses approximately 15,500 specimens. Approximately one-half of these collections are from Pennsylvania, the remainder from continental North America. Included among these collections are representative specimens of the campus flora. Access to, or requests for the loan of specimens must be made through the curator, Jerry G. Chmielewski. Slippery Rock University Herbarium, Department of Biology, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA 16057; phone: (724) 738-2489; email: jerry.chmielewski@sru.edu

Cell Biology Research Laboratory

The cell biology research facility, located in Vincent Science Hall 117F, is available for use by students who wish to do a faculty-supervised research project involving clean molecular or cell biology techniques. Located within this recently renovated laboratory space are a variety of equipment items commonly used in cell and molecular biology research, including a biological safety cabinet and carbon dioxide incubator for use in culturing a variety of eukaryotic cell lines, a liquid nitrogen cell storage unit, a high-speed microcentrifuge and a refrigerated low-speed centrifuge, a polymerase chain reaction thermal cycler, as well as a number of electrophoresis units for use in analyzing proteins and nucleic acids. Students interested in using these facilities should contact Jack R. Layne; email: jack.layne@sru.edu

Growth Chambers

Three EGC environmental chambers with light, temperature, and humidity control are located in Vincent Science Hall 107 and are available for use by students who wish to participate in faculty-supervised research projects involving controlled environments. Additional equipment in this facility includes media transfer hardware, a digital photography system, table-top shakers, carbon/nitrogen analyzer, an electro-balance, phase contrast microscope, light microscope, and dissecting scopes. Students interested in using this facility should contact Jerry G. Chmielewski; email: jerry.chmielewski@sru.edu

Ecophysiology Laboratories

The Department of Biology is well equipped for work in ecophysiology, especially cryobiology/winter biology. A large teaching laboratory is devoted to physiology courses such as animal physiology and animal physiological ecology. A small laboratory and portions of two large laboratories support ecophysiology research. Laboratory equipment includes four refrigerated baths (1 having high precision cooling/heating), a cryostage and high-end light microscope, an oxygen analyzer with computer interface, six Maclab stations equipped for physiological measurements, spectrophotometers, osmometers, four climate chambers, and a flame photometer. These laboratories support research that is funded by major federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation. Nearly 20 publications have been produced in this area since 1992, and many of the papers were coauthored with majors in our program. For more information, contact Jack R. Layne; email: jack.layne@sru.edu.

Microscopy Facility

The Department of Biology has available for faculty and student research a state-of-the-art photomicroscopy system. The acquisition of an Olympus AX-70 system was made possible through funding from the National Science Foundation. This research grade light microscope permits microscopy in any of the following optical modes: light, darkfield, phase contrast, Nomarski differential interference contrast (DIC), and epifluorescence employing a variety of fluorescent stains. Many of the functions of the microscope are automated to allow users to easily begin working with the system. Coupled to the basic microscopy system is a photohead assembly which permits the recording of images for record-keeping or further computerized analysis in any of several formats: 35 mm film, small and large format Polaroid film, and digital image capture using a Magnafire digital camera. Also available as part of the microscopy system is an Instec cryostage which allows the microscopic examination of specimens at sub-freezing temperatures. The entire system is mounted on a floating air table to provide an exceptionally stable platform for high magnification and/or long exposure photomicroscopy. The facility also houses a laser scanning confocal microscope. This digital image and analysis system is composed of several components: (1) two PC-based computers, one dedicated to controlling the mechanical components of the sytem and a second Pentium-class workstation responsible for the hardware/software-controlled digital image acquisition and manipulation; (2) a specimen illumination module utilizing monochromatic laser light; (3) a detection module which is responsible for digitizing the image of the specimen; (4) a Nikon E600 microscope; and (5) an inato-vibration platform necessary for the acquisition of high resolution images. For more information, contact Steve Strain; email: steven.strain@sru.edu.