Graduate Studies

The Department is located in modern facilities with laboratories in close proximity to each other, which facilitates interaction and sharing of major pieces of equipment. The Department has a common-use electrophoretic facility. Centralized media preparation also is available. Microcomputers are available in individual laboratories.

The School of Biological Sciences provides animal facilities, an Electron microscope facility, and sophisticated capabilities for elemental and biochemical analysis as well as photographic and image analysis processing. Modern greenhouse facilities staffed by two full-time employees are available for research use, as is a wild animal vivarium.

Southern California is endowed with a remarkable diversity of natural habitats where graduate students and faculty carry out research. These habitats span an altitudinal gradient ranging from sea level to high montane settings in the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains. Coastal Southern California has a Mediterranean climate with moist winters and dry summers. Inland from the coast are deserts which vary in temperature and rainfall, depending on location and elevations. Many of these habitat types are preserved in the University of California Natural Reserve System, and the White Mountain Research Station which provide excellent support for graduate and faculty research. Other reserves close to UCI include the Starr Audubon Ranch, and the Santa Rosa Plateau Nature Preserve, owned by the Nature Conservancy. The University of California has outstanding working relationships with these organizations, creating additional opportunities for field research. Several national parks and monuments also provide research opportunities, and national and state forests abound. Graduate students and faculty also carry out research in more distant areas as well, including other western states, Hawaii, Baja California and other parts of Mexico, Costa Rica, and arctic and antarctic regions.

The UCI Science Library houses reference books and periodicals relevant to the Department. Additional library facilities are located in the Main Library. The library facilities of all of the University of California campuses are available to graduate students, and there is daily shuttle service to the UCLA campus.