Facilities

The offices and laboratories of the primary members are in two buildings on science hill: Osborn Memorial Laboratories (OML), West Campus and the Environmental Sciences Facility (ESC).  Joint appointees are housed in their home departments.  In addition to the state of the art laboratories in the three buildings, listed below are additional facilities accessible to students for research and study at Yale.

Libraries:
The several science libraries collectively constitute one of the great collections of biological literature in the world. The Center for Science and Social Science Information (CSSSI), Peabody Museum (ornithology and entomology), Kline Geology Library (paleobiology), School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (forest and environmental biology), Engineering Library and Medical Library (biomedical sciences) together represent a total collection of approximately one million volumes.

The CSSSI is located in the concourse level of the Kline Biology Tower and has replaced the Kline Science Library while retaining the library’s former collection in the biological sciences and adds to that additional and substantial functionality in computing with their state-of-the-art StatLab. Please visit their web site for additional information. http://csssi.yale.edu/

Computer Facilities:
Yale Information and Technology Services (ITS) provides both mainframe and microcomputer resources to the student community. A variety of computer languages and programs are supported.  Biomedical Computer Facilities, located at the Medical School, and accessed through remote or local terminals, are available for DNA and protein sequence analysis.  The residential colleges are fully networked for access to Yale computing facilities and the Internet.

Peabody Museum of Natural History:
With collections dating to 1825 and now numbering over 2,000,000 units, Yale's Peabody Museum is a major resource for research and teaching in the biological sciences. Of particular interest to those studying the history and diversity of life are its world-famous holdings of fossil vertebrates, including dinosaurs (150,000 units), fossil invertebrates (275,000 units), and fossil plants (100,000 units), as well as its collections of modern birds (100,000 units), insects (1,250,000 units), other animals (300,000 units), and plants (250,000 units). Research and work-study opportunities with any of the scientific staff members of the Museum are accessible to students.

Genomics and Molecular Biology Facilities:
University services for all aspects of molecular biological investigations are available in various Yale facilities. These include oligonucleotide synthesis, DNA sequencing, monoclonal and polyclonal antibody preparation, peptide synthesis, cell sorting, and amino acid analysis. In addition, facilities are available for mass spectrometry and X-ray crystallography. Equipment to generate and analyze DNA chips and protein microarrays are located both at the Yale Medical School and in the MCDB Department. Mass spectrometry, high through put chemical genomic screening, and new technologies of next generation genomic DNA sequencing such as Roche/454 and Illumina/Solexa are available in the MCDB Department. In addition, the laboratories for teaching and for faculty research are well equipped with state of the art instrumentation and equipment for specific projects.

Imaging Facilities:
The MCDB Department operates a modern light microscope imaging facility supervised by Dr. Joseph Wolenski. These microscopes are available to the Yale scientific community at competitive hourly rates. Equipment includes two Zeiss LSM 510 confocal inverted microscopes, including one with near infrared two-photon imaging capabilities and a temperature controlled stage. The Department also houses a spinning disk confocal microscope and a Nikon widefield microscope equipped with a color camera for histological slides and a sensitive CCD camera for excellent fluorescence imaging.

Structural Analysis/Electron Microscopy Facilities:
The MCDB Department operates a Structural Analysis Laboratory that includes both scanning and transmission electron microscopes and related equipment for processing, sectioning, and imaging support. These facilities are used in both teaching and research, and are core resources also available to members of EEB and other Science Hill departments.

DNA Analysis Facility on Science Hill (DAFSH):
We are a non-profit academic Core Facility for DNA Sequencing and Fragment Analysis. This service facility is located on the first floor of the ESC within the YIBS-MSCG Center (see above). Its services are utilized by over 600 users from Yale as well as other academic institutions and private companies from across the United States and around the world. Yale users have priority over external customers and reduced rates. Training and job opportunities for Yale students are available during both academic and summer months. Please visit our web site for additional information (http://dna-analysis.research.yale.edu//#).

YIBS (Yale Institute for Biospherics Studies) Conservation Genetics Center:
This center (YIBS-MSCG) is located on the first floor of the Environmental Science Center. Our support is for scientists at any level that would like to address environmental, biodiversity, epidemiological, and conservation questions using DNA analyses, but lack the equipment and or knowledge to do so. A variety of learning opportunities and funding support are available to EEB and other Yale departments and schools members including rotations, seminars, one-on-one training sessions, and summer opportunities. For additional information please visit: http://www.yale.edu/caccone/ecosave/index.html.

YIBS Center for Earth Observation: 
A computer laboratory for the analysis of remote sensing data is available for research. The Center also offers courses in remote sensing on a regular basis to students, which provide students with the skills to use the facility.  This Center is housed in Geology and Geophysics.

Plant and Animal Husbandry: 
Numerous controlled environment growth chambers, constant temperature rooms, green houses and plant tissue culture facilities are available for environmentally controlled growth of plant materials. The major animal care facility for small mammals for the Arts and Sciences campus is also located on Science Hill.

Herbarium:
The Yale Herbarium consists of 350,000 systematically arranged plant specimens from the algae to vascular plants.  The collection includes significant type specimens in the mosses and ferns with a representation of most families and important genera of the flowering plants.

Peabody Museum Field Station:
The Marine Biology facility on Long Island Sound is comprised of an on-shore laboratory, a 40-acre salt marsh, and a 17-acre island.  Facilities include salt water holding tanks, a shop, and a small boat fleet.  It is approximately 30 minutes from the Yale campus.

Marsh Botanical Garden:
The University's botanic garden and arboretum is located north of OML on the grounds of Marsh Hall at Prospect Street and Hillside Terrace. The garden features a diverse collection of native and exotic trees, shrubs, and perennials highlighting plant communities and environmental change.  The greenhouses feature plants from tropical regions and arid climates as well as economically important crops.  Eric Larson, the garden manager leads a staff that includes David Garinger, indoor plant curator, Chris Bolick research plant curator and Bobby Rak, research aide.

Yale’s West Campus:
There are also a series of Core Facilities established on Yale’s West Campus these currently include: High Throughput Cell Biology, Small Molecular Discovery Center, and Yale Center for Genome Analysis, and HPC-High Performance Computing Center. Please visit their web site for more information: http://www.yale.edu/westcampus/science_core.html

Yale Natural Preserve:
This tract of acres in the Westville section of New Haven adjoins the Yale Golf Course.  It is heavily wooded and has a central pond.  Many groups of terrestrial and freshwater organisms are well represented in natural communities.

Yale Forests:
There are more than 10,000 acres of Yale Forests managed as working forests by the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. They are also available by arrangement for research and instruction.  The largest and closest is the 7,800-acre Yale-Meyers Forest in northeastern Connecticut.  It has some small lakes and a diversity of fauna, flora, and natural habitats.

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