BUILDINGS, FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

On Campus

Heydon Laurence Building

The School occupies five buildings with a wide range of equipment for experimental biology and other areas of research. Facilities include a glasshouse complex and garden, the John Ray Herbarium, the Native Animal House, the Haswell Museum many constant temperature rooms and programmable controlled environment cabinets, fresh and sea water aquarium rooms, C1 laboratories, a DNA sequencing service, a photography unit, technical services for the design and construction of equipment, and a poster and laminating room.

There is a good range of microscopes and access to the excellent facilities of the University's Electron Microscope Service. The School is constantly upgrading its computer facilities and is fully networked with access to a large number of library and other data bases within and beyond the campus.

The Macleay Building

The Carslaw Building - home of First Year Biology

Other University facilities are usually available by arrangement (see cooperative research) including other animal houses, glasshouses, crop science facilities, MRI, etc.

The University has the largest library in Australia which has a branch library in Biology (Badham) situated conveniently close to the main research areas.

Badham Library

Field Research

Crommelin Biological Research Station

The School has a fleet of 4 WD and other vehicles. Field facilities include the Crommelin Biological Field Station, 60 km north of Sydney, which provides accommodation and basic laboratory and library facilities and access to adjacent wet and dry sclerophyll forests, sandy beaches, mangrove swamps and intertidal rock platforms. More locally, the Institute of Marine Ecology (Director: Prof. M.G. Chapman) leases the Cape Banks Scientific Marine Research Area.

On the Great Barrier Reef, the University leases the One Tree Island Research Station (Director: Associate Prof. Maria Byrne) which in turn is administered by the Marine Studies Centre (see later). The Institute of Wildlife Research (Director: Prof. C.R.Dickman) has access to several field stations and sites in remote areas as part of its cooperative programmes.

One Tree Island Research Station

Cooperative Research

Within the University cooperative and co-supervision arrangements are possible with many departments and Schools including Biochemistry, Microbiology, Histology and Embryology, Physiology, Crop Sciences, other departments within Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Science, the Australian Genomic Information Centre and the NWG Macintosh Centre for Quaternary Dating.

The Marine Studies Centre (Director: A/Prof Andy Short, Madsen Building, F09) is a grouping of marine researchers from Biological Sciences, Geography, Geology and Geophysics.

Other Foundations and Centres within the School are the Fruit Fly Research Lab, The Institute of Wildlife Research and the Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities.

Beyond the University, similar arrangements are possible with staff of the four other metropolitan Universities, the Australian Museum, Taronga Zoo and Aquarium and the NSW Department of Agriculture and Fisheries through either its Fisheries Research Institute or the Biological and Chemical Research Institute. Research cooperation and/or co-supervision is also possible with the CSIRO (various divisions, including Entomology, Wildlife, Plant Industry, Animal Production, Biotechnology), The National Herbarium of NSW at the Royal Botanic Gardens, The National Parks and Wildlife Service of NSW and Biotechnology Australia.