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Department of Biology
Illinois College
Parker Science Building
C. Reed Parker Science Building (2002)
A 44,000 square foot science center, named for Mr. C. Reed Parker, long-time Chair of the Board of Trustees and generous benefactor of the College. The facility provides laboratories, seminar rooms, classrooms, offices, and study lounges for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics, as well as a Learning Center serving the entire campus.
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Within the Parker Science building, the Biology Department utilizes 3 teaching laboratories: 1 prep room, a specimen museum, a roof-top greenhouse, and 4 faculty offices, 3 of which are accompanies by an adjacent research lab. Each teaching lab is Internet-wired, and accommodates up to 24 students. Seating in each lab (6 tables, with 4 students per table) was originally designed to allow each student to clearly view the chalkboard. In practice, this arrangement has been extremely effective; lab and lecture are often held in the same room especially for upper-level courses (e.g., Microbiology, Botany, Genetics, Anatomy & Physiology).
Animals located in a faculty member's office include two snakes (boa constrictor, ball python) and 2 iguanas which are housed in secure cages, and have been displayed to the general public in an educational forum. Noteworthy specimens are placed on public display in the Parker rotunda. In 2004, a small plot of lawn adjacent to Parker was converted by a student to accommodate prairie species (grasses, herbs) to increase the number of much-needed native plants on campus. The 7-acre Englebach Biology Station (6 miles W of campus) provides students with the opportunity to study plants and animals in their natural habitat. Lincoln's New Salem in Petersberg also serves as a natural area for study by students in courses and summer internships alike.
