Facilities & Local Sites
Being an off-campus site, the Texas Tech University at Waco biology students have access to different facilities and sites around Waco, TX than Biology main campus students. Here is a brief overview of some of the resources utilized by TTU Waco biology students:
McLennan Community College
TTU Waco biology students primarily take their science classes in the McLennan Community College Science building. The Science building was built in 2009 and was certified as a LEED Gold building. Energy-efficient lighting, solar panels, water collection, etc. helped achieve the LEED certification. This is MCC's second LEED certified building.
The Science building also showcases a stained glass artwork featuring different science disciplines, a double helix sculpture, a large freshwater aquarium, a small science museum, and a beautiful water feature in the outside Plaza.
Classrooms in the MCC Science building are equipped with up-to-date equipment to facilitate Texas Tech's upper division biology course requirements. Genetics (Biol 3416) and Cell Biology (Biol 3120) laboratories are outfitted with the technology needed for students to learn the techniques used in current day research.
In the Genetics lab students use the fruit fly as a model for human genetics. The common fruit fly,Drosophila melanogaster, is a model organism used in genetics research.
Lake Waco Wetlands
The Lake Waco Wetlands provides over 180 acres of mitigated wetlands.
Several TTU Waco courses have taken students to the Lake Waco Wetlands for field trips: Invertebrate Zoology (Zool 3406), Parasitology (Zool 3403), and Vegetation and Wildlife Inventory Techniques (NRM 3407).
Faculty and staff tested the canoes for the upcoming Field Ecology (Biol 3301) course.
Waco Mammoth Site
The Waco Mammoth Site was established as a U.S. National Park in 2015. Between 1978 and 1997, the fossil remains of 22 Columbian mammoths have been discovered and excavated. What makes this site extremely unique is the discovery of a nursery herd, which was believed to had died together in one single event. Some fossils are preserved at Baylor University's Mayborn Museum; however, the majority of the mammoth fossils remain in place at the site.
In Dr. Stephanie Lockwood's Organic Evolution class, students toured the Waco Mammoth National Monument. Asian elephants are the closest living relatives of the extinct Columbian mammoths and specimens of both can be found in Waco. "Waco offers students the chance to see both organisms spanning 65,000 years worth of evolution only a 10-minute drive apart," TTU at Waco Biology Professor Stephanie Lockwood. "The Waco Mammoth Site tour was specifically designed for our class and focused on how modern day elephants evolved from mammoths found at the site. It was a great experience that demonstrated many of the concepts discussed in class."
Department of Biological Sciences
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Address
Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Box 43131 Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
806.742.2715 -
Email
biology@ttu.edu