The Hopkins Lab
The Wildlife Ecotoxicology and Physiological Ecology Program at Virginia Tech includes a well-equipped analytical laboratory located on the main Virginia Tech campus in Steger Hall.
The laboratory makes up the core of our research facilities, but the other work sites, resources, and equipment described below allow a wide range of ecological and physiological investigations within the program.
Latham Hall Facilities and Equipment:
- Six programmable (temperature) incubators with automated egg rotation
- Four walk-in, climate-controlled animal rooms used for experiments. Fully equipped for housing large numbers of precocial birds and herpetofaunaBench-top environmental chamber for thermoregulatory challenges
- Respirometer for measuring CO2 and O2, full automated with capability to simultaneously measure gas exchange in 10 chambers interfaced with an environmental chamber
- 2m long photo-cell lined racetrack for automated locomotor velocity calculations
- Chemical fume hoods
- Portable, digitial x-ray unit
- Digital video recording equipment used for behavioral and performance evaluations
- Spectrophotometer – Spectramax Plus – Molecular Devices
- Dissecting and light microscopes with digital imaging systems
- Lyophilizer and tissue homogenization system
The Aquatic Research Center
- A dry lab and associated animal holding facilities
- 50 outdoor mesocosms for aquatic community-based experimentation (1500 liters/each)
- 6 terrestrial pens for rearing small vertebrates in an experimental forest (12.25m2/each)
- Field vehicles and boats
The Research Aviary
- Construction of a new aviary was completed in October 2014.
