:: Department Facilities ::

The Department's laboratory and field facilities are used by classes and by students working on research projects.

:: Collections ::

• The Robert F. Hoover Herbarium houses over 54,000 mounted vascular plant specimens and over 2,500 algal specimens.
  
• The Aryan Roest Mammal Collection in room 252 of Fisher Hall includes over 2,300 skins, skulls, and mounted specimens of mammals representing both local species and animals from all over the world. The collection is used in Mammalogy and Vertebrate Field Zoology classes as well as for advanced studies on selected species.
  
• The Bird Collection in Room 252 of Fisher Hall includes nearly 2000 specimens representing all 20 orders of North American birds, 200 species from the western United States, and 55 of the 58 North American families. The collection is used in teaching Ornithology and Vertebrate Field Zoology.
  
• The Reptile and Amphibian Collection in Room 285A of Fisher Hall contains many specimens of species found in SanLuis Obispo County and representative specimens from other parts of the country and the world.

:: Technology Resources ::

• The Bioinformatics Computer Lab located in Room 258 Fisher Hall has workstations running under Mac OS-X and Windows XP.
• A flatbed Scanner, 35mm slide scanner and 35 mm Film Recorder are available for special project use.
• Laptops and Data projectors are available for classroom use

:: Special Use Facilities ::

• The Cal Poly Plant Conservatory under the direction of Professor Matthew Ritter and maintained by Michael Stiles provides approximately 2000 square feet of growing space under glass and an additonal 500 square feet under lath for growing materials for labs and research. Several isolation rooms are used to grow materials for Plant Pathology, Virology, and Nematology labs.
  
• The Undergraduate Biotechnology Laboratory (UBL) is available year-round for undergraduate research as well as for development of in-class course-specific laboratory exercises.
  
• The Microscope Study Room in room 460 of Fisher Hall has dissecting and compound microscopes for student use from 8 am to 4 pm. Arrangements can be made to use advanced specialized microscopes.
  
• The Department Stockroom in room 381 of Fisher Hall has equpment and supplies for class and student project needs.
  
• The Microbiology Prep Area in room 466 of Fisher Hall is used to prepare and maintain cultures, media and reagents for working with micoorgnisms.

:: Field Study Areas ::

• The Botanical Garden is located 1 mile from the entrance to Poly Canyon. Trails lead through approximately 75 acres up to the summit of the hill behind the "Poly P" and a view of campus, San Luis Obispo and the Cuesta Grade.
  
• The Ecological Study Area is also located in Poly Canyon. The site provides a diversity of natural communities including rocky slopes, coastal scrub, yucca scrub, chaparral, native grassland, coast live oak woodland, and riparian woodland.
  
• The El Chorro Biological Reserve is located adjacent to the Los Padres National Forest near the headwaters of Pennington Creek. The reserve provides another opportunity close to campus for vegetation and wildlife studies.
  

• The Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at the Avila Pier was established under a grant from Unocal to promote and facilitate basic and applied interdisciplinary studies of coastal marine systems for the purpose of addressing environmental concerns and fostering hands-on student learning through discovery and outreach.
  

• Twenty two acres in the Ragged Point area of San Luis Obsipo County's North Coast, donated by James Keefe and Lorna Lee, provide field botany and plant ecology opportunities to biological sciences students.