Funding for individual research projects
60% of our faculty members have funded research programs and most others have been funded in recent years. We obtain funding from a variety of sources; grants from NIH, NSF, USDA, Sea Grant (federal and state), and contracts from State Fish and Game, State Water Board, regional water departments and conservation groups as well as others sources. Because we are a Hispanic-serving institution we qualify for NIH SCORE grants, as well as NIH AREA (R15) grants. We also qualify for NSF RUI grants. We have faculty that hold all of these types of grants as well as NIH R01 and regular NSF grants.
Funding for student related activities
We have funding to support student research and training from NIH MARC and RISE programs, as well as a Beckman Scholars grant and a training grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).
Internal Awards
The CSU system has programs that support faculty research such as CSUPERB (funds biotechnology related projects, travel and hosts a research symposium) and COAST (supports release time from teaching for collaborative marine biology related projects). The University has competitive awards for seed money and release time as well.
Equipment Grants
We have been very successful in obtaining equipment grants from NIH and NSF programs in our college and department. This is the source of our mass spec and proteomics facility and our confocal microscope, for example.
Shared equipment and facilities
We will occupy a new building in spring 2011 along with a building completed in 2005 and an existing science building, all adjacent to one another.
Our individual faculty research labs are all well equipped and we have a culture of shared use. In addition, we have a variety of common equipment, some of which is listed below.
- Fluorescent activated cell sorter
- Olympus Confocal microscope
- Nikon SMZ 1500 w/CCD camera
- Proteomics equipment (CEPA)
- Mass Spectrophotometers (IIRMES)
- Scanning Electron Microscope
- Transmission Electron Microscope
- Quantitative PCR machines
- Cell Culture Facilities
- Typhoon 9410 Phosphoimager
- Perkin Elmer Gamma counter
- Beckman Coulter scintillation counter
- Automatic film developer and darkroom
- Gel imaging systems (several)
- Incubators/shakers
- Plant growth chambers
- Greenhouses (four)
- Centrifuges and rotors- tabletop, floor models, ultras
- Spectrophotometers
- Animal Care facilities
Marine Facilities
We have a complete marine lab in the new building to replace an existing one. We have five boats and slips in two locations nearby. We have a dedicated marine technician certified to operate and maintain the boats and as a diver. We are a member of the Southern California Marine Institute (SCMI) and share those facilities.
Herbaria and Greenhouses
We will have three greenhouses on the roof of the new Hall of Science to complement our existing greenhouse. We have a dedicated technician that maintains the greenhouses and plants.
Vertebrate museum
We have an extensive bird and mammal museum collection. We have a dedicated technician that maintains the collection.
