A botanist needs a place to work and tools to do the research. You'll find that the Botany Department is pretty well equipped. It hasn't been easy. A major NSF grant, along with State funds, allowed the construction of StJohn Plant Sciences Complex in 1970. We have a modest annual budget that must be stretched to pay for needed supplies. Grants and an occasional special opportunity from the Dean provide the equipment.
A major on-going concern is maintenance. There are never enough funds for the timely replacement of obsolete and broken equipment. This is true for us, and everyone we know both in the University and elsewhere.
We are all in this together. Everyone shares the Department's research resources. The faculty carry the burden of finding the resources for acquisition and maintenance. Students must work with the faculty to make sure that our limited resources are not wasted on repairing carelessly damaged equipment or squandered supplies.
Since individual faculty members take the initiative to acquire specific facilities, it is rightly their prerogative to control their use. Therefore, the Botany Department generally operates under the following guidelines:
If you need to use something, ask permission from the faculty member in charge.
Take responsibility to learn how to properly use and care for the equipment. Even little things, like replacing batteries, can determine how long the equipment will last.
If something goes wrong, or the equipment is not functioning properly, make sure you tell the person in charge and take appropriate responsibility in repairing the equipment properly. Otherwise, a lot of wasted time and effort will be spent discovering the problem again. This compounds the difficulty.
Be considerate of other people who need to use the same facilities. Don't dominate when you can share.
Teach others as you yourself was taught.
Clean up after yourself, and others if necessary.
Can't find something?
Ask. Be curious. Make your needs known. Sometimes it is possible to get something that is needed, even when budgets are tight. You may even discover that something you need is available, but is kept in an unexpected place.
You will notice that this guide lists things that are located outside the Botany Department. This means that we are good at sharing. This guide only hints at the possibilities.
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