Research facilities and field sites
Research laboratories of the Faculty in Ecology, Evolution and Systematics are housed in the Tom Bevill Energy, Mineral and Materials Science Building, Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, the Biology Building, and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (64 km south of Mobile, AL). Equipment in individual laboratories includes spectophotometers, centrifuges, high performance liquid chromatograph, ion chromatograph, epifluorescence, interference contrast and phase contrast light microscopes, as well as a wide array of balances, ovens and incubators.
Community facilities available for use by faculty and graduate students in
Aquatic Biology include a) The Freshwater Biological Facilities Center that
houses a Lachat flow injection automated ion analyzer, TOC and CHNS analyzers,
spectrophotometer and gas chromatographs; b) The Molecular Systematics Laboratory
that houses an automated DNA sequencing system with additional facilities
for DNA extraction, amplification and manual sequencing including centrifuges,
thermal cyclers, vertical and horizontal electrophoresis systems and gel dryers;
c) The Optical Analysis Center that houses transmission and scanning electron
microscopes, a laser confocal microscope and a light microscope equipped for
digital imaging. Ancillary facilities and equipment include negative and print
darkrooms, ultramicrotomes, vacuum evaporation and sputter coaters and a critical
point dryer; and d) The Experimental Mesocosm Facility that houses 18 temperature-controlled
aquatic mesocosms in a large glasshouse.
Faculty in the section also manage several large collections
including: a) the
UA Ichthyological
Collection
, one of the largest educational and research collections in the southeastern
United States, containing approximately one million specimens, b) the
UA Herbarium
with over 60,000 specimens, c) a freshwater invertebrate collection with over
10,000 vials and d) the Waldo Marine Invertebrate Collection of over 1000
specimens.
The
Eric and Sarah Rogers Library
of Science and Engineering
incluldes over 1700 current periodicals and 200,000 monographs and a scientific
communications laboratory. Graduate students have access to the central computer
facilities of the University for data analysis and internet access.
The
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
situated on Dauphin Island (connected to the mainland by bridge) is a completely
self-maintained facility with vehicles and boats including the 20 m steel-hull
R/V A. E. Verrill. Separate buildings house classrooms and research laboratories,
a running seawater system, a library, diving equipment, and facilities.
The state of Alabama is an excellent geographic location
for a diverse program in aquatic biology. Tuscaloosa is located at the Fall
Line between the Coastal Plain and Appalachian Plateau physiographic provinces.
The Interior Low Plateau, Valley and Ridge and Piedmont Plateau provinces
are within easy driving distances. The aquatic resources in the region include
a rich and diverse biota, many streams, rivers, wetlands, and reservoirs as
well as a major coastal embayment, Mobile Bay, to the south.
