The Department of Botany along with departments of Zoology and Microbiology, is located in Pearson Hall. Among the modern state-of-the-art botany facilities are a plant growth chamber facility which can provide simulation of nearly every major environmental condition, an electron microscope center with transmission and scanning electron microscopes, EDX-ray spectrometer, high pressure freezer, ultra microtomes and photographic darkrooms, a molecular instrumentation facility, the largest herbarium in the state of Ohio, cloning, tissue culture, autoclaving room, high voltage electrophoresis room, microcomputer room, dishwashing room, media kitchen, and large equipment rooms that house centrifuges, ice machines, ultra-cold freezers, and other equipment.
The research and teaching laboratories contain a full range of light microscopes with video interfaces to recording equipment, ultracentrifuges, fume hoods, and other modern laboratory accoutrements. Miami University owns a 184 acre Ecology Research Center where faculty and students can conduct a variety of field oriented studies. Special permission may also be obtained to conduct field studies in the environmental reserve located within the boundaries of the nearby Hueston Woods State Park.
The Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute recently awarded Miami
University $1.6 million to enhance biomedical science education, it's third consecutive Hughes award
dating back to 1989. The botany department is also using a substantial proportion of this award for
curricular improvement: improving laboratories in physiology and molecular biology,
enhancing research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and
contributing to an interdepartmental program in molecular biology.
A wide array of instrumentation is available for graduate research in botany, including scanning and transmission electron microscopes, automated DNA sequencer, digital gel imaging system, scintillation and gamma counters, many kinds of centrifuges, an elemental analyzer, atomic absorption spectrometers, high pressure liquid chromatography systems, recording spectrophotometers, electrophysiological equipment, high voltage electrophoresis equipment, field sampling equipment, a gas chromatographer, a flame photometer, osmometers, and respirometers.
Numerous PC and Macintosh microcomputers are available within the department for graduate student research and are linked to a local area network and to the two university mainframe computers to provide access to on-line literature database searches, interlibrary loan services, and international computer networks. In addition, many of the instruments in individual faculty's research laboratories are linked to dedicated microcomputers. Students have ample data storage space on the mainframe computers and have access to statistical counseling services. Other University services in support of research include a glassblower, an electronic repair technician/mechanical shop, and a radiation safety officer, who provides instruction in the use of radioisotopes.
The department conducts a seminar program that features nationally recognized speakers from off campus lecturing on numerous specific topics. Summer field courses in systematics and ecology are offered at Andros Island in the Bahamas, Belize, and Costa Rico.
In addition to the main University library, the Brill Science Library contains most research journals, a computerized literature search service, interlibrary loan services, and graduate student study carrels.
Pearson Hall houses Miami University's Electron Microscopy Facility (EMF), which is available without charge to students and faculty, and is accessible to qualified users 24 hours/day.
The EMF houses two scanning electron microscopes: JEOL T200 and
Phillips 505; two transmission electron microscopes: JEOL 100S and
Zeiss 10C; and a Nikon PCM 2000 laser scanning confocal microscope.
One TEM and both SEMs are capable of digital imaging , and one SEM is
equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis unit (EDAX
9100V).
Specializing in scientific imaging, the EMF supports both film
photography and digital imaging. In addition to 35mm, large format
and video cameras, the facility has 4 fully-equipped photographic
darkrooms and a specialized computer graphics suite for digital
imaging & analysis. The Facility is fully networked and digital
images can be captured from a diversity of input sources including:
EM's, LM's, VCR's, copystand CCD cameras, high resolution flatbed
scanners (prints and negatives), and gel imaging systems. A diversity
of advanced software is available for image analysis, publication and
presentation preparation. Images can be output via high resolution
laser printers, dye sublimation printers, photo ink jet printer, and a
high resolution film recorder. Data storage is handled via 90 GB of
on-line storage, magneto optical disks, CD-R, or zip disks.
In addition to being fully equipped for conventional specimen
preparations, the EMF is specialized for cryo-preservation techniques.
The EMF houses one of the few high pressure freezers in North America
(Balzers HFP 010), a propane jet freezer, a 'slam' freezer, spray
freezer and an automated freeze-substitution system. In addition, the
Facility has 26+ pieces of specimen preparation equipment and a small
library of journals and books. The Facility staff has a
diversity of experience and specializations covering a wide range of
microscopic and imaging techniques, and provides training in
microscopy and imaging including undergraduate and graduate level
courses in TEM and SEM.
The Center is an interdepartmental facility for molecular biology research that is located in Pearson Hall. It has an ABI 3730 48-capillary genetic analyzer, an ABI 3130xl 16-capillary genetic analyzer, and two ABI 310 genetic analyzers for DNA sequencing and fragment analysis (such as AFLP, SNP, microsatellite, etc.).
The Center has a Beckman-Coulter Biomek FX liquid handling system, an Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer, several thermocyclers, spectrophotometers, fluorometers, a microplate UV/VIS/fluorescent spectrophotometer, a phosphorimager, and a digital gel imaging system for the preparation and analysis of molecular data. Also available are microplate centrifuges, ultracentrifuges, and rotors for DNA isolation as well as peripheral equipment for sample preparation.
The Center has two Corbett RotorGene 3000 real-time PCR thermocyclers for quantitative PCR as well as gene expression analysis. The CBFG also has an Axon GenePix 4000B microarray scanner for gene expression studies.
The Center has Linux/UNIX, Macintosh, and Windows- based workstations and servers with bioinformatics analysis software. All the workstations and servers are connected to the Miami network for university-wide access. Full-time staff is available for training and operation of the equipment. The Center has served the research needs of over 40 research labs on campus. The Center also hosts a variety of training sessions and class tours throughout the year.
Miami University is the home of Ohio's largest herbarium, the Willard Sherman Turrell Herbarium. The herbarium's holdings of approximately 620,000 specimens are worldwide in both geographical and taxonomic coverage. The collection consists of 330,000 vascular plant specimens, as well as 140,000 bryophytes, 100,000 fungi, 35,000 lichens, 10,000 algae, and 5,000 fossil plants. There are several thousand type specimens contained in the collection, as well as many sets of cryptogamic exsiccatae. Active exchange programs are ongoing with many herbaria worldwide to ensure the continued breadth and depth of the collection. The W.S. Turrell Herbarium Fund is an endowment which benefits the herbarium, and is restricted to support of the research activities of the staff and students in systematic botany.
Research and teaching laboratories contain a full range of light microscopes with video interfaces to recording equipment. Physiological instrumentation include many types of centrifuges, spectrometers, osmometers, respirometers, chromatography systems, and electrophoresis equipment.
The botany department has an excellent computer laboratory which houses both IBM and Macintosh microcomputers for student use. Numerous microcomputers are linked to a local area network and to the two university mainframe computers to provide access to on-line literature data base searches, inter-library loan services, and international computer networks.
In addition, many of the instruments in individual faculty's research labora tories are linked to dedicated microcomputers. Data can be readily transferred between these computers and the computer laboratory or mainframe computers. More about Computing at Miami University
Horticultural Technician Harry Friedman and Greenhouse Manager Jack Keegan
Abundant growth space for plants utilized in research and teaching is available through the existence of over 13,000 square feet of glasshouse space and the Botany Department Plant Growth Chamber Facility. The Plant Growth Chamber Facility houses a total of fourteen controlled environmental growth chambers of various dimensions, which provide ideal growth conditions for experimental plant populations the year round.
Botany students and faculty engaged in ecological studies also use the
facilities at the Ecology Research
Center and the Miami University Natural Areas. The Ecology Research Center is located two miles from the main campus and consists
of a modern classroom and laboratory building, 183 acres of land used for
various field manipulative studies, and a pond lab facility. Additional
opportunities for field research include nearby streams, the lake and woodlots
at the Hueston Woods State Park, the Ohio River, and many other local habitats.