Computational Labs

Biocomputation Lab

Modern biodiversity research involves increasingly computational intensive analyses. Research involving analyses of large biodiversity databases or genomic sequence data, for example, now requires computational resources that are not available in standard laptop or desktop devices. Researchers at the KU Biodiversity Institute have access to a number of shared resources for computational intensive analyses. One such resource is the Biocomputation Laboratory located on the 5th floor of Dyche Hall. This laboratory is home to two shared use high memory (100+ GB) LINUX workstations that permit desktop assembly and analysis of genomic sequence data.

GIS Lab

The KU Biogeography-Ecology Laboratory is a center for geospatial analyses of biodiversity. The laboratory includes a diverse group of faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students, all interested in geographic and environmental dimensions of biodiversity. The laboratory facilities consist of 9 high-end workstations fully equipped with all necessary software to permit detailed spatial and statistical analyses of biodiversity data, all fully networked in a collaborative environment with projection facilities and 26 square meters of whiteboard space for project planning and exchange of ideas. Laboratory activities include research by individuals, but also a very active working group that takes on large-scale methodological challenges in biogeography, spatial ecology, and other aspects of biodiversity informatics. The working group, as well as the lab user group more generally, is highly international, with 18+ countries represented among current and past participants. The laboratory has made possible many research projects by faculty and students individually, and a growing number of ‘group’ projects, which are produced cooperatively and collaboratively by the working group.