Facilities

Facilities

Ongoing Facilities Updates

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Current Facilities:

At Utica College, students learn from faculty members nationally-recognized for their research contributions. Students experience biology in the laboratory and in natural settings, including urban wetlands like the Utica Marsh, wildlife sanctuaries such as the Nature Conservancy's Lake Julia Preserve, and the Adirondack Mountains. The first floor of the Gordon Science Center houses eight well-equipped laboratories, two lab and research prep rooms, a walk-in cold room, an animal colony room, a greenhouse with an extensive teaching collection, and a herbarium representing the flora of central New York. Students actively participate in the Asa Gray Biological Society and sponsor the Asa Gray Seminar Series that attracts scientists from around the northeast.

A recent grant from NASA was used to update our labs with state of the art equipment including mobile laptop computer labs, molecular biology equipment,  fluorescence, compound, and dissecting microscopes, a gamma counter, remote thermal recording probes, environmental chambers and a variety of other pieces of equipment used in classes and research. 

Students have the opportunity to conduct research with faculty on a variety of topics such as molecular biology, behavioral ecology, aquatic botany, neuroscience, evolutionary ecology, endocrinology, and mycology. Faculty and students have collaborated on groundbreaking research in such areas as vitamin acquisition and lipid metabolism in fungi, light pollution effects on salamanders, antibiotic-induced damage to the inner ear, endocrine disorders in mice, and the use of water treatment residuals in greenhouse production. Many students have received grants and fellowships to support their own research. Their research has been nationally recognized at conferences including the American Society for Microbiology, The American Microscopical Society, and Sigma XI. Students have also showcased their research to members of Congress and are encouraged to publish their research national and international journals.


The biology curriculum is designed to provide a thorough education in classic principles and techniques, and enables students to apply these tools and concepts to contemporary issues. It also provides flexibility and the opportunity to explore both field and laboratory courses, from molecular to ecosystem level biology. We prepare students for a range of careers including teaching, research, business, environmental and conservation biology, as well as graduate study, research, and professional schools in medicine, dentistry, optometry, podiatry, and veterinary science.