Many of our courses, including most of those in biology, chemistry and physics, and some of those in computer science and math, have laboratory components where students use state of the art science laboratory equipment. The student does not just see the equipment in a tour or run a simulation of the equipment on a computer. In the picture on the right, Dr. Mike Condren is working with two students on the FTIR.

The lab courses are taught in conjunction with lecture courses. In most of the lecture/lab courses the same instructor teaches both lecture and lab. This provides the opportunity to coordinate the lecture with lab in a way to best help the student learn.

• Biology The biology department has obtained major pieces of biology equipment recently with the help of grants from the Van Vleet Foundation and the Assisi Foundation. The department also has lots of research quality microscopes, a UV-visible spectrophotometer with computer interface, a PCR Thermocycler, and a fluorescent light microscope interfaced to a macintosh computer via a video camera with 35mm capability with an ELISA reader attachment. The department even has a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The picture to the right was taken with the SEM at 1000 power. It shows the first pair of maxillipeds from a freshwater crayfish, Procambamus. List of Biology courses and labs. Click here for pictures of the labs in operation.
• Chemistry Besides the normal glassware and chemicals, the chemistry department has obtained some major pieces of chemistry equipment recently with the help of a grant from the Assisi Foundation. The department has an AA, an FTNMR, an FTIR, a GC/MS, an HPLC, and five diode array UV-visible spectrophotometers. Photos and more detailed information about these instruments can be found on chemistry equipment. List of Chemistry courses and labs.
• Computer Science/Mathematics One of our recently modernized classrooms in the Science Building is outfitted with 30 computer stations and is used for mathematics and computer science classes and labs. In the afternoons and evenings, it serves as the location for the Math Center where mathematics tutors are available to help students. A second computer science lab has a new dedicated server with seven Linux machines and five pc's, and is used by the Math Center during the mornings.


• Physics The physics department has equipment for a very nice laser lab that includes several lasers, a monochromator, a large and a small vibration damping table with optical attachments (lenses, mirrors, etc.), photometers, and fiber optic couplers and cable. The image on the right shows students working in the optics lab. In addition to lots of teaching equipment for the introductory lab courses, the department has a nice e/m apparatus, a Millikan oil drop apparatus, various radioactivity detection equipment including a gamma ray spectrometer, and a microwave Bragg Diffraction apparatus. List of Physics courses and labs.