Department of Biology

The Department of Biology is housed within the state-of-the-art $40.5 million Biological Sciences Building. The four-story, 116,500-square-foot building contains 16 modern teaching labs and 27 faculty research labs. Faculty research labs are outfitted for research in virology, ecology, genetics, physiology, and molecular cell biology. The building also includes three lecture halls, one large one with 192 seats, a multi-purpose classroom with 48 seats and a 96-seat classroom with an operable partition which allows the space to be divided into two classrooms when needed. There are 37 offices, office support spaces, and a conference room on each floor. Wireless Internet is available for all faculty and students throughout the building and in a semi-enclosed courtyard.

Features of the building also include a 6,000 gallon-capacity seawater system which supplies saltwater to selected teaching and research labs as well as the roof-top greenhouse. The greenhouse serves as an ideal location for culturing a diverse array of plant species used in research and teaching. With saltwater access, researchers can perform controlled experiments on mangroves, seagrasses and corals. Finally, the building contains a specialized necropsy facility where scientists can examine marine mammals, sharks and other animals.