Facilities and Laboratories
The College of Sciences boasts a wide variety of facilities on and off campus that provide students with resources and environments necessary for academic success. The information below allows you to get better acquainted with the facilities and laboratories available to science students.
- Science and Engineering Building
- Electron Microanalysis & Imaging Laboratory
- Nevada Isotope Geochronology Laboratory
- Soils Analyses Laboratory
- Las Vegas Isotope Science Laboratory (LVIS)
- XRF/XRD Laboratory
- Physics Facilities
- Las Vegas Center for Stress Genomics
- Ecophysiological Research Facility
- Elevated CO2 Desert Environment Facility
- Wesley E. Niles Herbarium
Science and Engineering Building (SEB)
The Science and Engineering Building (formerly known as the Science, Engineering, and Technology Building) is currently under construction and is slated for completion in 2007. The building will showcase a breadth of compelling programs and will attract students into high-demand fields, such as computer science, environmental science, and electrical engineering. UNLV faculty and student researchers will be able to increase their levels of collaboration with local industry and create the academic environment sought by technology-based companies. With this new building, UNLV will be able to conduct a wide array of high-profile research projects, ensuring UNLV remains competitive with the nation's top and most respected institutions.
Electron Microanalysis & Imaging Laboratory (EMiL)
EMiL is an analytical laboratory dedicated to the solution of problems using electron micro-beam techniques for clients in industry, government agencies, and academia. EMiL is capable of providing microanalysis and imaging services in the following areas: failure analysis, research development, forensics, product development, quality control, and troubleshooting.
Nevada Isotope Geochronology Laboratory (NIGL)
The Nevada Isotope Geochronology Laboratory offers facilities to conduct 40Ar/39Ar dating. The newly constructed Electron Microanalysis and Imaging Laboratory (EMiL) houses a JEOL electron microprobe and scanning electron microscope. The geoscience department operates mineral separation facilities. The department also has a hydrology research group that focuses on surface and groundwater modeling projects.
Soils Analyses Laboratory
The UNLV Soil Analyses Laboratory supports soil genesis, geomorphology, and ecology research through characterization of soils using basic physical and chemical analytical techniques. The laboratory has standard wet/dry-chemistry facilities to analyze soil particle size, pH, EC, organic matter, percent gypsum, calcium carbonate content, exchangeable ions, extractable acidity, organic matter determination, Olsen-P, nitrate, ammonium, S, sulfate, XRD, and SEM analysis, as well as epoxy equipment for making soil thin sections.
Las Vegas Isotope Science Laboratory (LVIS)
LVIS is equipped for analyses of water and geologic and biologic samples for oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen stable isotopes. These stable isotopes are powerful tracers of natural processes, ranging widely from tracking of bird migrations to studies of trophic levels and paleoclimate. The lab is available to interested UNLV, NSHE, and other users.
XRF/XRD Laboratory
The geoscience department at UNLV has two new instruments: a PANalytical Axios Advanced sequential X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer for whole rock major and trace quantitative elemental analysis; and a PANalytical X'PERT Pro X-ray Difraction Spectrometer for mineral identification, and crystallographic and Reitveld analysis.
The physics department houses a number of facilities to support its teaching and research interests, including:
- Atomic Hydrogen Beam Facility
- Optical Coating Thin Film Facility
- Tau Cluster
- Material Preparation and Synthesis Facility
- Pulsed Tunable Dye Laser Facility
- Student Electronic Shop
- Ion Beam Facility
- Ion Trap Facility
- H2 Cluster
- Physical Properties Measurement System
- Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy Facility
- Professional Glass Shop
- Professional Electronic Shop
- Raman Scattering Facility for High Pressure Research
- Reflection Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry Facility
- Ruby Fluorimeter Facility for High Pressure Research
- Dynamic Laser Light Scattering Facility
- Professional Machine Shop
- High Resolution Laser Spectroscopy Facility
- Student Machine Shop
- 16-inch Photometric Telescope
- Diamond Anvil Cell/X-ray Diffraction Facility for High Pressure Research
- Cosmology Computing Cluster
Las Vegas Center for Stress Genomics
The Las Vegas Center for Stress Genomics was established to aid in the development and support of genomics-based research. The center supports the training and use of equipment oriented toward DNA microarray production, scanning, and analysis. It also assists with DNA isolation and quantification and PCR amplification. Staff at the facility also provides technical expertise and training in fundamental protein, RNA, and DNA analysis methodologies. The facility is in the department of biological sciences, Juanita Greer White Hall, Room 119.
Ecophysiological Research Facility
This greenhouse facility has a number of controlled environment areas for research. In addition to temperature-controlled areas for general research, the greenhouse has a separate area for elevated carbon dioxide studies.
Elevated CO2 Desert Environment Facility (ECODEF)
The elevated carbon dioxide treatment rooms are set up to mimic natural conditions as much as possible. Inside temperatures and light are close to the ambient conditions outside of the glasshouse building. Currently, the environment of the carbon dioxide treatment rooms are controlled to the same temperature and relative humidity as the ambient carbon dioxide room. In one of the current experiments, ecophysiological data are being collected on a number of desert species grown in meter-tall pots constructed from PVC sewer pipe. Plants are growing in a sandy soil that includes a desert soil component, and are watered with 0.75 liters of a weak nutrient solution weekly. (The pots with larrea tridentata are the only exception: these plants are watered every two weeks.) Experimental species include larrea tridentata, oryzopsis hymenoides, hilaria rigida, bromus rubens, and camissonia claviformis.
Other experiments currently running in ECODEF involve yucca whipplei, phaseolus spp, and pisum sativum. The experiments run at ECODEF are specifically designed to support research at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility.
Wesley E. Niles Herbarium
The Wesley E. Niles Herbarium is a collection of dried, pressed plant specimens mounted on archival-quality sheets of paper, placed in folders, and stored in cabinets. Each sheet has a label affixed to it, providing the proper scientific name of the plant, the location and habitat where it was collected, the date of the collection, the collector's name, and the collection number. This label information is also electronically recorded, so that it is readily retrievable through an up-to-date database. These specimens provide tangible documentation for the occurrence, distribution, and diversity of flowering plants, conifers, and mosses in the Southwestern desert regions of the United States, especially the Mojave Desert. The herbarium also serves as a center for research, teaching, and public service, and as a repository of potentially valuable genetic information.
