Research Facilities
In addition to the outstanding resources provided by the numerous departments, programs and centers that explore different aspects of plant biology at the UW, students and researchers at UW benefit from many other resources at the university, in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Plant biologists at the UW are lucky to live in one of the most exciting natural environments in the United States! With multiple active volcanos, two mountain ranges, an abundance of coastal and freshwater landscapes and North America’s only rain forest all within a couple of hours of Seattle, it is hard to beat the opportunities the region. In addition, the City of Seattle has an international reputation as one of the most progressive cities for its commitment to exploring opportunities for sustainable urban ecological design. The following is a list of just some of the excellent resources available to students and researchers working at UW:
Friday Harbor Labs, San Juan Islands |
Greenhouses and Herbaria
Gardens and Arboreta
Field Sites
- Friday Harbor Laboratories
- The Friday Harbor Laboratories are located on San Juan Island, part of an archipelago that lies between the mainland and Vancouver Island.
The Laboratories are well situated for research on many aspects of marine biology and oceanography. The waters around San Juan Island are relatively free from pollution, and although the salinity is in general like that of the open ocean, there are a few estuarine situations of low salinity. There are swift tideways as well as quiet bays and lagoons. A tidal range of about 4 meters exposes diverse intertidal areas of rock, sand, and mud. The flora and fauna are exceptionally rich. Representatives of nearly all major groups of marine algae and invertebrates can be obtained by collecting at the shore, and depths down to 300 meters can be explored by dredging and other collecting techniques. Many of the organisms available are important for research in physiology, development, and ecology. In addition, Friday Harbor Laboratories hosts the Center for Cell Dynamics (CCD), an NIGMS-funded Center of Excellence in Complex Biomedical Systems Research.
- Pack Forest (Forest Resources)
- Wind River Canopy Crane (Forest Resources)
- Lee Memorial Forest
- Joe E Monahan Findley Lake Reserve
- Thompson Research Site
Pacific Northwest native plant communities and regions
- Volcanos: Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Baker, Mt. Adams
- Mountain Ranges: Cascades, Olympics
- Forests: Olympic Rain Forest, Temperate Forests of the Cascades, inland
forests of Eastern Washington
- Coastal plant communities: Olympic Coast, Elliott Bay and Puget Sound,
- Padilla Bay Natural Area
- Island Systems: San Juan Islands
- Freshwater lakes and rivers: Lake Washington, Snoqualamie, Skagit,
- Skykomish and Stillaguamish Rivers
- Prairies: Fort Lewis
Libraries and Museums
- UW Library System
- Elisabeth C Miller Horticultural Library
- The Burke Museum
- The Burke Museum, located on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle Washington, is the State museum of natural and cultural history, and the only major natural history museum in the Northwest. It's a treasure trove of natural and artistic wonders from the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Rim. Collection highlights include towering totem poles and huge, hand carved cedar canoes; the region's only dinosaur skeleton; beautiful gems and minerals; fascinating fossils; birds, beetles, and butterflies. The four divisions of Anthropology, Geology, and Zoology and Botany contain nationally ranked collections totaling more than 5 million specimens.
Laboratories
- Comparative Genomics Center
- The Comparative Genomics Center is a Biology Department facility where laboratory users, including students, post docs, faculty, and staff, can train on and use some of the latest automated high-throughput tools for genomic and molecular genetic research. The Center contains capillary genetic analyzers for automated fluorescent DNA sequencing and genotyping applications, dual-block thermocyclers for performing PCR in 96 and 384 well microplate formats,a programmable liquid handling robot for high-throughput DNA sample preparation and other custom laboratory protocols in microplate format, and computers for data analysis. The equipment and instrumentation in the CGC is quite flexible and can be applied in many different types of biological research ranging from functional genomics to ecology and population biology. Further details and contact information can be found on the CGC web page.
- UW School of Medicine
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