Research Facilities

Jason Swallen Herbarium

The herbarium (botanical museum) on campus is housed in Room 250 of the Schimmel/Conrades Science Center. It contains approximately 16,000 pressed and dried plant specimens, many dating back to the 1800s. Today the collection is actively used in teaching botany courses and for student research.

Moore Greenhouse

Completed in May 2002, the OWU greenhouse is located on the south side of the Schimmel/Conrades Science Center. The structure houses OWU’s botanical teaching collection, as well as student and faculty research projects. The Moore Greenhouse is a wonderful facility for research and teaching with living plants, and boasts a collection of almost 500 specimens collected from countries around the world. The four climate-controlled rooms recreate the conditions of a tropical rainforest habitat, a desert habitat, and temperate conditions similar to the climate of Ohio. Botany students routinely use the greenhouse for controlled experiments in plant propagation, physiology, and ecology.

Jane Decker Arboretum

This arboretum provides students, visitors, and members of the Delaware community with a living laboratory for learning about plant identification and diversity, arboriculture, landscape design, and ecology. The Jane Decker Arboretum includes 105 species of trees and woody plants from temperate regions around the world. Tours of the arboretum may be scheduled by contacting OWU Professor of Botany David Johnson at 740-368-3505 or at dmjohnso@owu.edu.

Nature Preserves

Ohio Wesleyan University maintains two forested nature preserves, which serve as outdoor facilities for teaching and research. Each preserve was donated by a family interested in preserving the integrity of the land in the foreseeable future.

Learn more about the preserves.

Scanning Electron Microscope

Scanning electron microscopy was brought to the Ohio Wesleyan University campus in October of 1996, in cooperation with the Botany/Microbiology, Geology and Geography, and Zoology departments. The laboratory was named after George W. Burns (d.1994) who was a professor of Botany (1946-1979), Vice President and Dean (1957-1961) and the Acting President (1958-1959) at Ohio Wesleyan. Students are offered an opportunity to have hands-on working knowledge of the SEM through upper-level courses and independent studies.

Learn more about the SEM Facility.

Confocal Microscope

A grant from the National Science Foundation made it possible for OWU to acquire an Olympus Fluoview 300 confocal microscope. With this addition to our already outstanding biological imaging facilities, students receive training on these cutting-edge instruments in laboratory courses and in independent study projects.

Molecular Biology Equipment

Our department has an abundance of laboratory equipment designed for modern molecular biology (transformation, cell culture, DNA subcloning) and cell imaging techniques (bright field and fluorescence), which are used by students in most laboratory-based courses. Equipment includes gel electrophoresis devices for DNA and protein separation; gradient thermal cyclers for PCR; incubators and shaking incubators for bacterial cells; CO2 incubators for mammalian cells; 2 autoclaves for sterilization; centrifuges, microcentrifuges and ultra-centrifuges; spectrophotometers; and biosafety cabinets for cell culture work. We have also recently acquired a digital fluorescence microscope and a 3-D printer, all routinely used by students. Large-screen LCD TVs to allow digital presentations are also installed in several laboratories.