Facilities

The School is located in the Social Sciences and Mathematics building where we have three labs for graduate students: Ethnoecology, Restoration and Conservation Ecology, and Visualization. In addition, we offer a setting for meetings and collaboration. Through cooperative arrangements across campus and with various organizations and agencies, graduate students can gain access to a wide array of facilities. Located on southern Vancouver Island, there is easy access to marine, freshwater wetlands, rivers, lakes, upland Garry Oak, temperate rainforest and alpine ecosystems. There is also opportunity for collaboration with many First Nations, government agencies, environmental and other non-governmental organizations and corporations.

Ethnoecology Lab

This space provides a realm of opportunities for students studying the relationships between people and their environments. Dr. Nancy Turner's extensive library on ethnobotany, traditional ecological knowledge, including dozens of student theses and dissertations on related topics, will be housed in this lab, for access and use by graduate students. There will be lab bench space, facilities for plant voucher specimen preparation, microscope use, and limited analytical facilities for cellular and phytochemical investigation. Most importantly, it will be a gathering place for students, faculty and others interested in topics in ethnoecology, for informal presentations, discussions and potential for hosting visitors who wish to spend time in this environment.

Restoration and Conservation Lab

This is a combination of wet and dry lab space for graduate students and visiting scholars studying ecological restoration and conservation. Lab bench space permits light microscopy, fine scale sample processing and storage. Dedicated wet/dirty sample processing rooms elsewhere in the SSM Building facilitate large scale and/or whole organism processing. Dedicated workstations are available for data analysis and manuscript preparation. This space is also the home of the Seafood Ecology Research Group and also serves as the primary conduit to Dr. John Volpe's field research capacity which includes a dedicated 4x4 pick-up, 20' field trailer and two research vessels - the 18' RV Outlier and 30' RV Jolly Seber in addition to numerous pieces of dedicated field analytical and visualization equipment. Most importantly, it serves as a gathering place for students, faculty and others interested in ecological conservation and restoration.

Visualization Lab

The Visualization Laboratory is a centre for computationally demanding research projects. It is equipped with workspace for graduate students, various computers and peripherals, videoconferencing and presentation equipment. The lab is under the supervision of Dr. Eric Higgs and is the home of the Mountain Legacy Project, among other initiatives.