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Facilities

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Animal House Climate Room & Feed Mixing Room

  • Eight climate-controlled rooms (temperature and humidity)
  • Large mixing room for preparing special diets in batches (1kg to several hundred kilos)
  • Available at commercial rates

Contact: Grahame Chaffey
ph: 02 6773 3233 / 0408 658 248
email: gchaffey@une.edu.au

 

Beadle Herbarium (NE)

The NCW Beadle Herbarium (NE) at UNE consists of c.70 000 vascular plant specimens, housed in a purpose built facility. Herbarium NE is an internationally recognised Herbarium. Herbarium NE is able to exchange specimens with, borrow from and lend to other recognised herbaria.

More information about the Beadle Herbarium (NE)

 

Calorimeter Bomb

  • This facility is available at commercial rates

Contact: Evan Thomson
ph: 02 6773 3024
email: ethomson@une.edu.au

 

CAT-scanner

  • The CAT Scanner at UNE was installed in 1996, it is an Hitachi CT -- W400 and is available for research and commercial scanning for body and carcass composition projects

  • This facility is available at commercial rates

Contact: Pat Littlefield
ph: 02 6773 3397
email: plittlef@une.edu.au

 

Decision Support Software (eDSServe)

  • eDSServe offers educational access to the powerful decision support tools used in agriculture and natural resources, and was developed by the University of New England's DSS unit.

  • These software tools are commercially available, and are important in modelling grazing enterprises and ruminant nutrition.

  • eDSServe allows any students enrolled in a UNE teaching program access to almost any Windows application suitable for teaching purposes.

Electron Microscope

  • The Electron Microscope Unit (EMU) is an independent service unit within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences providing electron microscope facilities to all members of the University as well as outside clients.
  • The facility includes a JEOL-1200-EX transmission electron microscope (installed 1988) and a EOL-JSM-5800LV scanning electron microscope (installed 1995) with electron microanalysis system.
  • This facility is available at commercial rates.

Contact: Pat Littlefield
ph: 02 6773 3397
email: emunit@une.edu.au

 

Field Stations

  • Newholme Field Laboratory:

    Newholme is a commercially operated Field Laboratory located about 10 km north of Armidale. Its primary function is for teaching and research.

    Go to the Newholme Field Laboratory webpage

  • Arrawarra Coastal Field Station:

    The marine field station is located at Arrawarra Headland, on the northern New South Wales coast, adjacent to the Solitary Island Marine Park which supports substantial coral communities. The station was established in the late 1960's to provide a base for both teaching and research. The location of the station is ideal, providing easy access to a full range of marine and estuarine habitats.

    Accommodation, kitchen, laboratory facilities (including aquaria with flow-through sea-water) vessels (two ocean going and one for estuarine use) are available at the station. Limited computing facilities are available including access to the Internet

    For enquiries regarding booking the Arrawarra Field Station please contact:

    Richard Willis

    email: rwillis@une.edu.au

    ph: 02 6773 2615

    Go to the Arrawarra Coastal Field Station web page

GIS Computer Facility

  • A networked facility with 50 PC computers dedicated to teaching geographic information systems and image processing. The GIS facility for resource information systems, comprising  Silicon Graphics workstation and a variety of PC's with a range of GIS software including ARCGIS and IMAGINE.

  • Peripherals include digitisers (AO size), flatbed colour scanners; plotters (AO HP 65OC, AO pen plotter, Epson Colour Stylus, A4 HP Jet), a laboratory and field based spectro-radiometer, Magellan GPS systems.

  • A library collection of satellite imagery and digital GIS files has been compiled.

Glasshouse & Shade House Facilities

  • Climate controlled glass house facilities for plant, soil and other ecological/ecophysiological studies.
  • Several shadehouses, and outdoor plant conditioning areas.

Laboratories

Agricultural & Environmental Analytical Laboratory

The Laboratory is equipped to carry out a wide range of cation, anion and total elemental analyses on environmental, agricultural, geological and archaeological samples by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrosopy, CNS Mass Spectroscopy, Near Infra Red Spectrophotometry, Ion Chromatography, and other methods.

This facility provides chemical analytical services at subsidised rates to students and staff from all Schools for UNE teaching and research activities.
Services are also provided to outside clients at competitive commercial rates.

Chromatography Laboratory

The Chromatography Laboratory is equipped to carry out analysis of volatile organics utilising either Gas Chromatography for routine analyses or Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for identification of unknowns.

The facility also has a dedicated Gas Chromatograph for analysis of gas samples. High Pressure Liquid Chromatography facilities are available for determination of known non-volatiles. Associated facilities include solvent extraction, steam distillation and vacuum extraction.

Fibre Measurement Laboratory

The Fibre Measurement Laboratory is a controlled atmosphere laboratory to condition fibre samples to 20°C and 65% RH prior to measurement. These test include:

Agritest Staple Breaker (Model 2): a semi-automatic machine for the measurement of the staple length and strength of greasy wool staples with statistical analysis of results and printed test report.

OFDA-1—(Optical-Based Fibre Diameter Analyser): measures 2 mm scoured fibre snippets including wool, cashmere, mohair, alpaca and some synthetic fibres. The OFDA-100 histogram data printout includes: mean fibre diamter, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, prickle factor and spinning fineness.

Contact: Neil Baillie
ph: 02 6773 3241
email: nbaillie@une.edu.au

X-ray Laboratory

The x-ray laboratory is operated by David Keith and includes an automated Philips X-ray diffractometer. This facility is available for commercial service.

For enquiries and services please contact:

David Keith
ph: 02 6773 2900
email: geology@une.edu.au

or

Paul Ashley
ph: 02 6773 2348
email: pashley@une.edu.au

Land Use, Planning & Management Laboratory

The laboratory has 45 research-quality mirror stereoscopes for aerial photographic interpretation, a small air photo library of NE NSW, and a topographic map collection.

Limnological Equipment & Laboratory

Variety of Oxygen, pH and conductivity meters, water sampling bottles and sampling equipment, Ekman grab, multi-channel temperature recorders, research-quality compound and dissecting microscopes with fibre-optic cold-light illuminators, portable analytical balance, and access to a range of different sized boats. Specialist sampling equipment includes freeze corers and box samplers.

Ecology Laboratories

Range of equipment including incubators, ovens, refrigerators, balances, microscopes (including some of research standard with fibre-optic cold-light source), portable field based automatic weather station, light and radiation meters, specimen storage facilities etc.

Plant & Soil Laboratories

Germination cabinets, incubators, drying ovens, balances, refrigerators, pH and conductivity meters, EM38 conductivity meter for measuring apparent soil salinity, neutron moisture probe, field sampling equipment including soil and forest mensuration kits, and preparation areas for sample analyses.

Wildlife Resources Laboratory

Houses specimen collections of Australian fauna, preparation rooms, teaching and research laboratories, animal house facilities including a nocturnal room for small mammals, field observation equipment including radio tracking devices, bat detectors, trapping and spotlighting equipment, field glasses, dietary analysis facilities, walk-in refrigerator and deep freezers etc.

Water Resources Laboratory

This facility provides chemical analyses of soil, rock, plant and animal samples with an automated atomic absorption spectrophotometer, auto-analyser, UV/ UIS spectrophotometer, drying ovens, incubators, centrifuges, autoclaves, muffle furnace, balances, distillation units etc.

 

Mineral, Rock, Fossil & Drill Core Collection:

The department maintains a comprehensive collection of rock and fossil samples from research collections. These are dominantly from the New England region (the most comprehensive collection of New England rocks worldwide). Approximately 75,000 rock samples are catalogued.

The department maintains a small core library, with a selection of drill core from Eastern Australia.

Curated by David Keith
ph: 02 6773 2900
email: dkeith@une.edu.au

 

National Marine Science Centre

The National Marine Science Centre (NMSC) was conceived as part of Australia’s Oceans Policy and constructed with a grant from the Commonwealth Government’s Centenary of Federation Fund. It is a significant development in the study and research of marine and coastal science and management in Australia. The Centre was opened in 2002 and is a joint venture of the University of New England and Southern Cross University. Both Universities have a history of innovation in natural resource management and marine science that they bring to the NMSC.

The NMSC is an exceptionally well equipped coastal institute based at Coffs Harbour on the East Australian seaboard. The Centre is located adjacent to the Solitary Islands Marine Park which enables students, academic and professional researchers to excel in the study of marine science and management.

Students gain first hand experience in their chosen field, with an emphasis on utilizing the protected marine environment around the centre. Courses at the NMSC have been designed to meet a range of student needs, focusing on the expanding career opportunities in marine science and management in Australia and overseas.

With the with the backing of two highly respected universities, Southern Cross University and The University of New England, and expertise from other scientific, environmental and industry groups, students can be part of a developing institute and achieve internationally recognised qualifications in marine science and management.

Go to the National Marine Science Centre web site.

 

Rural Properties

Stable Isotope & Fluid Inclusion Facilities

The Department has isotope separation lines for the preparation of CO2 and SO2 (C,O and S isotopes). Subsequent mass spectrography is carried under a collaborative arrangement at the Centre for Isotope Studies, CSIRO, North Ryde.

A USGS heating-cooling stage is available for fluid inclusion studies.

Administered by Paul Ashley:
ph: 02 6773 2348
email: pashley@une.edu.au

 

Thin Section Facility

The Department has facilities for the preparation of thin, polished thin and polished sections, including fluid inclusion plates.

A commercial service is offered for petrographic work.
Section manufacture includes thin sections, polished thin sections, polished blocks, doubly polished fluid inclusion plates, impregnation of soft or fractured samples, and K-feldspar staining.

Petrographic descriptions for commercial work and fluid inclusion studies can also be undertaken.

Operated by David Keith:
ph: 02 6773  2900
email: dkeith@une.edu.au

 

Zoology Museum

The Zoology museum was established in 1969 as a teaching museum with displays primarily designed to support the teaching of the Zoology department's own students. The displays stress form, anatomy, taxonomy and evolutionary relationships within all of the major Zoological groups and include several fine sequences of associated fossils.

Anyone is welcome to visit the museum. Teachers proposing to make use of this facility need firstly to make a booking and perhaps visit the museum beforehand to work out a study schedule for the class to use on its visit. Due to space limitations, numbers should be limited to 25. Guided visits for more senior students with specific interests can be arranged by appointment.

More information about the Zoology Museum