Facilities
The Department of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University has a variety of facilities that students, faculty and staff can use.
Teaching labs
Teaching labs for student instruction contain up-to-date equipment for the study of plants, animals and microorganisms.
Research labs
The department also has state-of-the-art research laboratories for faculty and graduate students. The faculty and graduate students have access to scanning and transmission electron microscopes, scintillation counters, ultracentrifuges and spectrophotometers.
- Includes a basic research program.
- Offers educational programs for undergraduate and graduate students.
- Provides comprehensive scientific and technical expertise for both University-wide and external grants and contracts.
C.R. Hanes Herbarium
This facility includes 33,000 preserved plant specimens with an emphasis on those from Kalamazoo County.
Finch Greenhouse
- Collection of living plants not native to the Michigan area.
- Research space.
Other Collections
The Department also has insect, mammal and bird collections.
Outside locations
The WMU campus contains a variety of cultivated and native plant species, while the Kleinstuck Nature Preserve, Asylum Lake and a reconstructed oak savannah are located on nearby University properties. Laboratory classes frequently take field trips to the many lakes, streams, ponds, forests, wetlands and prairies of Kalamazoo and adjacent counties.