The Environmental Biology lab will be a 24-station computer lab. Students will have the opportunity to learn applications including statistical software, mathematical modeling, phylogenetic analysis, and database processing by actually utilizing the programs. The lab will be heavily used by such courses as Biometrics (BIO 211), Community Analysis (BIO 527), Population Ecology (BIO 418), Biological Systematics (BIO 406), Principles of Ecology (BIO 325), Population Genetics (BIO 445), and Environmental Informatics (BIO 255). Other courses, including the basic Foundations of Biology series, will use the lab on an occasional basis. The lab will be fully networked, with local capability allowing the instructor to control student workstations, and external access to allow instruction in the appropriate use of internet resources. A dedicated file server will keep student workstations updated and synchronized. A ceiling-mounted computer projector, two networked printers, and a docking station for an instructor's laptop computer complete the room configuration. The facility replaces a much smaller, inadequate room in Building 4 that was not originally designed as a computer lab. The Environmental Biology Lab will be the principal facility for general computer instruction in the Biological Sciences Department.
