The School of Biological Sciences is housed in Richards Hall and George Lynn Cross Hall, which contain faculty and graduate student offices, research and teaching laboratories, multi-user molecular biology core facilities, maintenance shops, the departmental stockroom, graphics and photography workrooms, and computer rooms. Support staff include a photographer/illustrator, academic advisers, an audiovisual technician, a computer specialist, and a shop supervisor. The department also maintains facilities and equipment, including several boats and vehicles, for research in the field. Departments at the OU Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in nearby Oklahoma City, approximately 20 miles from the University of Norman campus, offer many additional opportunities for collaborative instruction and research. Teaching and research opportunities are provided for students at the following locations.
BIOLOGICAL STATION AND OTHER RESEARCH UNITS
The University of Oklahoma Biological Station, located on Lake Texoma, an impoundment of the Red River on the Oklahoma-Texas border, is a permanent year-round field station with a resident staff of research scientists that provides year-round facilities for faculty and students. A summer session with approximately ten courses is attended by undergraduate and graduate students from throughout the country.
Students also use the facilities of the Samuel Roberts Noble Microscopy Laboratory, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, and the Oklahoma Biological Survey.
BIOLOGY ANIMAL FACILITY
This facility contains breeding colonies of rodents and provides housing for a variety of other small mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles.
BIOLOGY CORE MOLECULAR LABORATORY
The department's core molecular laboratory provides all the tools necessary to go from tissues to sequence to analysis.
TISSUE CULTURE LABORATORY
This lab provides facilities for in vitro culture of vertebrate cells and tissues and for the production of monoclonal antibodies.
BIOLOGY COMPUTER FACILITIES
Computer rooms located in both buildings contain several microcomputers with associated printing and graphics equipment. In addition, numerous microcomputers are located in individual research laboratories. Supercomputing and other special applications computer facilities are available through the OU Supercomputing Center for Education & Research (OSCER).
AQUATIC RESEARCH FACILITY
The 8-acre Aquatic Research Facility (ARF) on the south research campus supports researchers and student activities with 32 ponds, 4 climate-controlled greenhouses, and a system of outdoor artificial streams.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR LABORATORY
A laboratory devoted to animal behavior and ecological studies, this facility provides indoor space and outdoor enclosures for the study of a wide variety of animals.
KESSLER ATMOSPHERIC AND ECOLOGICAL FIELD STATION
Kessler Atmospheric and Ecological Field Station is a 350-acre tract of mixed grass prairie donated to the University of Oklahoma for research and teaching in environmental studies.
OLIVER WILDLIFE PRESERVE
This wilderness area of 80 acres, situated just two miles south of the main campus, provides a natural laboratory for studies in ecology, natural history, and behavior.
