The Evolutionary Biology Program is part of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, which is housed in the new I.P. Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Ithaca, New York. This facility currently supports more than 200 faculty, staff, students, and research associates.
We share the facility with a number of other research programs, including the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds, Bioacoustics, Bird Population Studies, Conservation, and Citizen Science. The constant formal and informal interaction among people in these different groups is one of the great benefits of working at the Johnson Center. We have a substantial biological library with a professional librarian staff.
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The Johnson Center is a few miles from the main Cornell campus and is set within the 225 acre Sapsucker Woods preserve with 4 miles of trails and 230 bird species observed; there is a very active bird feeder outside the lab window, but our most impressive recent sighting was a mink carrying a dead muskrat. Bus service (TCAT line 31) from campus runs approximately every hour; the trip takes 40 minutes from campus and 10 minutes on the return.
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Molecular Genetics Laboratory |
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Our 2500 square foot molecular genetics facility includes a large central lab for general tasks and separate areas or rooms for DNA extraction/PCR set-up, frozen sample curation, computers, and staff offices. The lab is supervised by a full-time manager as well as by the program director. The laboratory space is designed and equipped to accommodate about a dozen concurrent users.
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Major Laboratory Equipment |
| The centerpiece of our molecular genetics facility is a dedicated ABI model 3100 automated sequencer that we use for DNA sequencing, microsatellite and AFLP genotyping, and SNP scoring. This is a very easy-to-use capillary machine that runs 16 samples at a time. All lab users have access to the sequencer and most run it themselves; we recently had an undergraduate intern who was running reactions on the 3100 by the end of her first week in the lab. |
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Additional equipment includes eight 96-well gradient MJ research thermal cyclers, an autoclave, a fume hood, a digital UV documentation system, two –80° C ultracold freezers, three –20° C freezers, refrigerators, various electrophoresis systems, eight benchtop centrifuges including a vacuum centrifuge and a 96-well plate centrifuge, and various pipetting systems. We currently process most reactions in 96-well plate format from the PCR stage onwards, leading to substantial efficiencies of time and reagents.
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Laboratory Computing |
| The lab has a separate genetic analysis room for computer work. Lab users have access to both macintosh and PC computers, plus various peripherals and printers. |
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Office space:
Office space in the Johnson Center can often be arranged for visitors and students who are working intensively in the facility. |
Museum Facilities |
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The Evolutionary Biology Program supervises the frozen tissue collection of the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates. Other CUMV facilities are adjacent to our laboratory, including the ornithology collection just across the hall.
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What We Do
Working Here