CTRD Resources and Facilities
In addition to the resources provided by affiliated programs, departments, and research centers/institutes, and well equipped laboratories of the program faculty, potential trainees will be interested in knowing about the following:
The Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior (CISAB) offers generous support in the form of three core facilities and is directed by Program Faculty member Greg Demas. The CISAB main office building is available for use 24 h/day and houses the William J. Rowland Reading Room, student office space, and a central seminar room equipped with a digital projection system where students and faculty meet and interact regularly via seminars, classes, workshops, and journal clubs. The administrative assistant, Linda Summers, coordinates the seminar series, the Animal Behavior Minor, and the annual Animal Behavior Conference and is available to assist students with procuring research supplies, general resource questions, and any practical problems that might arise. The CISAB Behavioral Information Technology Center (BIT) is a computer lab with several personal computers with specialized hard and software needed for presentation graphics, statistical analysis, acoustic and video analysis, digital video production and editing. The BIT Center also offers several items for short-term check out by individual students, including high quality portable and hand-held computers, spectrophotometers, video and audio recorders. Third, the CISAB Animal Behavior Lab has a range of equipment and supplies needed for molecular genetic, neuroendocrine, biochemical, and immune assays, including a mirocplate spectrophotometer with low-volume DNA/RNA/protein quantification, thermocyclers, Vertical and Horizontal gel electrophoresis rigs, a Microplate absorbance plate reader and washer. The facility is coordinated by full-time manager, Dr. Rose Stewart, who is available to train students and faculty in a wide range of techniques including gene sequencing, steroid and peptide hormone measurement, electrophoresis, genotyping and sequencing, microarray, PCR/RT-PCR, and other gene expression assays.
The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction (KI) was founded in 1947 and is directed by Program Faculty member Julia Heiman. KI holds an extensive internationally renowned collection of library, archival, art, photographic, and artifact items related to sexuality and sex research. It also houses research laboratories for studying human sexual response and maintains rich databases to support research.
The Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics (CGB) is a multidisciplinary research center that carries out independent research in genomics and bioinformatics, collaborates and assists in projects developed by faculty, and promotes interdepartmental and interdisciplinary interactions to enhance genomics and bioinformatics at IU Bloomington. The CGB provides facilities and technical expertise to enable researchers to carry out the kinds of large-scale experiments that are becoming increasingly important in the life sciences. At the same time, the CGB plays an important role in the IUB life sciences community, providing active programs of seminars, roundtables, and workshops, and conducting extramurally-funded research projects in genomics and bioinformatics. Program Faculty member Peter Cherbas is the Director of CBG.
The Indiana Molecular Biology Institute was established in 1983 to foster excellence in molecular biology disciplines at Indiana University Bloomington. The Institute Fellows are drawn from the faculties of Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Medical Sciences, Optometry, and SPEA on the Bloomington campus, and the Department of Biology at Indiana University's Medical School on the Indianapolis campus. Their research programs cover a spectrum of vital areas including nucleic acid technologies, regulation of gene expression, cell, developmental, genetics and molecular biology, molecular evolution, microbiology, and biochemistry.
METACyt Biochemical Analysis Center provides access and training for research in state-of-the-art biochemical analysis to include high resolution chromatography, multi-dimensional mass spectrometry, and NMR, as well as other tools for molecular structure elucidation. The Center is managed by Program faculty member Dr. Milos Novotny, who is a world-renowned bioanalytical chemist eager to promote the interdisciplinary studies the training grant is designed to encourage and has ongoing collaborations with program faculty (e.g., Demas, Ketterson, and Martins).
Imaging Research Facility: The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences maintains a state-of-the art fMRI scanning facility here on the Bloomington campus. CTRD postdoctoral fellow Heather Rupp has made extensive use of the opportunity in collaboration with CTRD faculty Heiman, Ketterson, and Sengelaub.
Three new science buildings: Two new buildings to house scientific laboratories, known as Multidisciplinary Science Buildings I and II (MSB I and II), have been constructed. Simon Hall (formerly MSB I), located next to Jordan and Myers Hall, opened in the fall of 2007, and provides 80,000 assignable square feet of research space. MSB II, located near the Psychology building, opened in the fall of 2009, and provides 65,000 assignable square feet of research space. MSB III is currently in a planning phase.
Indiana University is fortunate in its relatively rural setting and its land holdings for field research. Kent Farm is a 90+ acre preserve that lies adjacent to property belonging to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and consists of a caretaker’s house, animal quarters, storage buildings, and a combination of old fields and forest to support research. Program faculty Goodson, Ketterson, and Suthers all conduct research at Kent Farm. The IU Research and Teaching Preserve oversees other sites, including ones with mature forest and aquatic environments.
