Campus Facilities
Science Complex
The Earth and Environment Department is housed in the first and ground floors of Palenske and Putnam Halls of the Albion College Science Complex, renovated/built in 2006. The complex includes four buildings connected on four levels with a four-story atrium at its center. Key features of the department include:
- State-of-the-art teaching/research laboratories
- Extensive mineral/fossil/rock and map collections
- Laboratory instrumentation, including ICP-AES, XRF, and XRD spectrometers
- Abundant field sampling and surveying equipment
- Geology Shop for sample preparation
Seven Teaching Laboratories
2 Introductory Geology Labs- J Harlen Bretz Surficial Geology Lab, with three 3’x7′ stream tables, a 12′ hydrologic flume, 10 Leica stereomicroscopes, soils analysis equipment, and nine TOPCON MS-3 mirror stereoscopes
- R.G. Clark GIS Remote Sensing Laboratory with 13 Dell PCs, ArcGIS and ENVI software
- Environmental Geology and Geochemistry Lab
- General Advanced Lab
- Mineralogy/Petrology lab with new Leica student petrographic microscopes and a research-grade Olympus petrographic scope with imaging capabilities
Research Laboratories
L.D. Taylor Undergraduate Research Laboratory- Dow Analytical Laboratory
- Six dedicated faculty research laboratories
Analytical Instruments
- Inductively coupled plasma/atomic emission spectrometer model JY-38-S
- X-ray fluorescence spectrometer
- Rigaku RIX 2100X-ray diffractometer
- SediGraph 5100 particle analyzer
Field Sampling and Surveying Equipment
- YSI flowtracker current meter
- Isco 6712 Automated Sampler
- Two Pygmy AA USGS Current Meters with Wadding Rods and Aqua Calc
- YSI 6600 Multi-Parameter Water Quality Monitor
- 2 YSI 600 Optical Multi-Parameter Sonde
- Two Quanta Water Quality Meters
- 8 Solinst Leveloggers
- Leica Total Station
- 2 Advantage Laser Atlanta Laser Range Finders
- GPS units
- Over 50 Brunton Compasses
Geology Shop
Logitec CL30 Precision Lapping Machine- Tile Master rock saw
- Logitec CW30 Trim Saw
- Comco Micro Blaster
- Two Lab Ovens
- Carver Pellet Hydraulic Press
- Spex 4200 Jaw Crusher
- Two Spex Mixer/Mills
- Isomet Low Speed Saw
- Frantz Magnetic Separator
Rock/Mineral/Fossil & Map Collections
