Facilities
East Carolina University's proximity to lakes, estuaries, and shallow coastal marine environments enables students and faculty to study these natural features at different levels of ecosystem organization. There are many rare and unusual natural areas in need of study for management and protection - some examples include Nags Head Woods (maritime forest), Roanoke River Bluffs, and habitat for the red cockaded woodpecker and American alligator. The department has access to research boats for estuarine work and an ocean-going research vessel, the R/V Cape Hatteras. ECU also has access to state-operated laboratories at three aquarium complexes - Roanoke Island, Bogue Banks, and Fisher Island - along the North Carolina Coast. Arrangements can be made for laboratory space at these centers on a short-term basis. Additionally, a number of biology students are involved in research projects in the laboratories of faculty in ECU's School of Medicine.
Within the Howell Science Complex, some of the more frequently used areas for graduate student and faculty research include the water quality analysis laboratory or water quality and elemental analysis; the electron microscope facility, with one transmission scope, two scanning scopes, and several ultramicrotomes; biochemistry research labs equipped with facilities for liquid thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography, and an array of refrigerated centrifuges; the microbiology area with a clean room for tissue culture; a radioisotope work area containing several types of detectors, including a liquid scintillation counter; the developmental biology lab; an area for hybridoma training; the environmental control room; the animal facility; and the 2,400 sq. ft. greenhouse erected in 1950, housing more than 300 species of plants from from a variety of habitats including wetland, aquatic, desert and tropical environments. Four separate houses with different aspects include controlled artificial lighting and misting to create diverse controlled environments
Facilities are also available for experiments utilizing aquaria. Additional equipment includes walk-in cold rooms, field vehicles, and a digital photo lab. Consistent with the university's plan to provide state-of-the-art computer facilities for students, the Department of Biology has upgraded its computer facilities. In addition to the computers in microbiology laboratories, computer work stations are being placed around the Howell Science Complex to provide easy access for use with course work or independent study. The department is also conveniently located next to Austin Building, which houses the Computing and Information Systems Center. Another valuable research facility is ECU's Joyner Library, which receives most of the major scientific journals as well as many related monographs, symposia proceedings, and government documents. When more obscure references are needed, the Interlibrary Loan Department can readily acquire originals or copies through a national network. Additionally, Joyner Library and the Department of Biology have computer facilities available to students for conducting literature searches. Students may also use libraries at UNC-Chapel Hill; N.C. State University in Raleigh; the National Marine Fisheries Service and Duke Marine Laboratory, both in Beaufort; and the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City - all of which are within easy driving distance form ECU.
