Facilities and Resources
Diverse research and teaching facilities are available to our students on our three campuses or nearby via our collaborators.
Statesboro Campus
Biological Sciences Building. On the Statesboro campus our department occupies a new 135,275-square-foot building. This LEED-Gold-certified building has state-of-the-art lecture rooms, TEAL classrooms, teaching labs and prep rooms, and research labs. It also provides shared equipment rooms, a microscope room, a cold room, space to house collections, meeting and seminar rooms, computer facilities, and offices for faculty, staff, and graduate students.
Natural Sciences Building. The department continues to occupy a large lecture hall, teaching labs, and staff offices in our former home in the Natural Sciences Building. This building primarily serves our non-majors biology program.
Herty Building. The department occupies one floor in the Herty Building. This space provides faculty research labs, a shared equipment room for molecular biologists, darkroom, and a cellular/molecular teaching laboratory.
Fieldhouse. Adjacent to the Biological Sciences Building is a 14,940-square-foot animal care and research-support facility. The fieldhouse includes an aquatics research area, animal research area, an insectary with warm room, storage space for field equipment, a locker room with showers, loading dock storage, and office space. The aquatics room provides air and treated water lines, shelf space for aquaria, and space for self-contained aquatic housing systems (e.g., for zebrafish). The animal research space includes animal rooms, a gowning area, a surgery room, and a cage washer. These facilities are designed to meet the latest federal guidelines for the care and housing of animals.
Greenhouses. The Statesboro campus has two research greenhouses. Adjacent to the Biological Sciences Building is a new 2800-square-foot greenhouse. This space has computerized climate control and includes a potting room and a germination room. A 1280-square-foot greenhouse is located at the Natural Sciences Building; about half of this space can be climate controlled.
The Genomics Core. This facility provides space and equipment for faculty to prepare DNA and RNA libraries for Next Generation Sequencing. We have an agreement for “in house” pricing for sequencing runs with the University of Georgia. Once sequencing is completed, data analysis can be completed using Georgia Southern University’s own high performance computing Talon Cluster.
Equipment. Major research equipment on the Statesboro campus includes a DNA sequencer, real-time PCR system, multimode microplate reader, high-speed centrifuges, scanning electron microscope, confocal microscope, Eclipse Ni-U research microscope, carbon-isotope analyzer, ion analyzer for soil samples, nanospectrophotometer, flow cytometer, and an off-road vehicle.
Boats. The department has three boats: a 14-ft johnboat with a 15 HP motor, a 17-ft Boston whaler with 90 HP motor, and an electrofishing workboat with a 115 HP motor.
Armstrong Campus
Science Center. On the Armstrong campus our department is located on the first floors of both buildings of the Science Center. The space devoted to our department includes state-of-the-art lecture rooms, smart classrooms, teaching labs and prep rooms, and research labs. It also provides shared equipment rooms, a microscope room, space to house collections, computer facilities, and offices for staff and faculty.
The Foram Sustainable Aquaponics Research Center (SARC). A facility of the College of Science and Mathematics, the Aquaponics Center is a joint venture between Georgia Southern University and the Foram Foundation. The aquaponics system is located in a 4100-square-foot greenhouse on the Armstrong campus, close to the Science Center.
Equipment. Major research equipment on the Armstrong campus includes a DNA sequencer, fraction collector, Desktop water tunnel, Gel-Doc imaging system, industrial 3D printer, and nanospectrophotometer.
Hinesville Campus
Liberty Center. On the Liberty campus our department is located in the Liberty Center. The Liberty Center provides modern classrooms, teaching labs, prep rooms, and office space.
Collections
Our collections are managed in close collaboration with the James H. Oliver, Jr., Institute for Coastal Plain Science.
United States National Tick Collection. The U.S. National Tick Collection has over 1 million specimens (representing most of the world’s 850 tick species). This internationally recognized collection is housed in the Natural Sciences Building on the Statesboro campus, and it is supported by a library specializing in arthropods and vector-borne disease, laboratory space, and offices.
Georgia Southern University – Savannah Science Museum Herpetology Collection. Totaling over 35,000 specimens, this collection is a nationally recognized resource for the study of reptile and amphibian systematics, distribution, and ecology. It is housed on compacting shelving in a state-of-the-art space in the Biological Sciences Building on the Statesboro campus.
Herbarium. Our department maintains active herbaria on both the Statesboro and Armstrong campuses. With more than 45,000 total specimens, the Department of Biology’s herbaria are among the region’s best collections of vascular plants.
Other Collections. The department also maintains small collections of invertebrates, fishes, birds, and mammals for teaching purposes. In the Biological Sciences Building on the Statesboro campus we have a major collection of approximately 500,000 pinned insect specimens (and an additional 20,000 alcohol-preserved specimens).
Other Facilities
Orianne Indigo Snake Preserve. This 1200-acre habitat preserve (with support facilities) in Telfair county is managed by The Orianne Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles. Through a memorandum of understanding with The Orianne Society, biology faculty and students have access to habitats that are home to rare species such as the Eastern Indigo Snake. The preserve also provides the opportunity to become involved in cutting-edge habitat restoration techniques.
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and the University of Georgia Skidaway Extension are both located on Skidaway Island in Savannah. Together the two facilities represent a world-class center for the study of marine biology. Faculty and students conduct research here, and this work is facilitated by Georgia Southern University’s own Applied Coastal Research Laboratory on the site.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Bo Ginn Fish Hatchery. The Bo Ginn Fish Hatchery, located near Millen, GA, is no longer an active hatchery. However, through a cooperative agreement between Georgia Southern University and USFWS, the site is now used as an aquatic research facility by Department of Biology researchers. Dozens of small ponds are available for ecological research.
Last updated: 4/3/2019
