Facilities and equipment
Explore our resources for research and learning. Some are accessible to the wider scientific community in government, business, and industry.
Microscopy Facilities
The University of Melbourne maintains a state-of-the-art electron and optical microscope facility with nodes located at the Bio21 Institute and the School of BioSciences. Instruments at these nodes are available to research students and staff of The University of Melbourne, as well as to the wider scientific community of government, business and industry.
Glasshouse Complex
The Glasshouse complex is located as part of the Zoology Building. There are 9 separate glasshouses located on the first floor of the complex. These can be accessed by internal and external stairwells and an elevator. Two glasshouses are classed PC1 and serve for plant pathology experiments.
The Glasshouse complex also houses the following facilities:
- Growth rooms & cabinets - Three growth rooms are available for use. These have both lighting and temperature control. A further 3 growth cabinets are available with temperature, lighting and relative humidity control.
- Hardstand - An external pot standing area is available for the growing of potted plants.
- Ground plots - A small area on the edge of the systems garden is available for in-ground growing of plants. This area is small and space is limited.
- Potting shed - This is a work area for the preparation of potted plants. Soil mixing and sterilization facilitates are available this is also the pot, soil, sand and soil additives storage area.
The University of Melbourne Herbarium (MELU)
Established in 1926 by a donation of plant specimens, the Herbarium collection now totals approximately 100,000 specimens - and its still growing.
All major plant groups are housed in the Herbarium, including fungi, mosses, liverworts, lichens, algae, ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants. The main emphasis of the collection is Victorian flora, however, for some plant groups interstate and overseas collections are included to adequately cover the range of variation within the group.
Being an archival plant collection of international importance, the Herbarium contributes substantially to the School of BioSciences through research, teaching, public relations and the exchange of specimens and information locally and globally. The herbarium lends specimens nationally and internationally to registered scientific institutions for research purposes, and welcomes the use of the collection by visiting scientists. Through undergraduate courses, volunteer and internship programs students can learn about herbaria and assist in the maintenance and expansion of the facility.
Melbourne Pollen Count
Melbourne Pollen Count forecasts the level of pollen in the air during Melbourne's peak allergy period from October 1 to December 31 each year.
The School of BioSciences and the Asthma Foundation Victoria offer this service as research has identified that grass pollens released during this period are the major contributor to allergies in the outdoor atmosphere of the city.
Tiegs Museum
The Tiegs Museum of the University of Melbourne was established in 1887 and is Australia’s oldest university museum of zoology. The extensive collection of specimens, accumulated over 120 years, represents the whole animal kingdom, ranging from small invertebrates to prepared whole-mounts and skeletons of vertebrates including an African lion, and a moa (an extinct emu-like bird from New Zealand).
WildlifeDensity app: Wildlife software
WildlifeDensity is a macOS operating system application for recent macOS laptops (e.g. Macbook Air, Macbook Pro) and desktops (e.g. Mac Mini, iMac, Mac Studio & Mac Pro).
The app is designed to help field workers estimate the densities of many biological populations in land habitats, especially vertebrates such as birds and mammals that are large enough to be seen easily by an observer at detection distances of at least several metres. It is less suitable for species that actively hide from an approaching observer (e.g. the European rabbit).
To estimate a wildlife population density, the app uses detection distance data collected during a line transect ground survey or a similar data-gathering task to model the variation in visual or other forms of detectability with increasing distance from the observer. It can also compensate for the effects of differences between observer and population movement rates on the numbers detected. If the sample size is adequate, and appropriate information available on the observing situation, the program can then estimate the overall population density, its standard error and other parameters of the observing situation.
The program requires radial or perpendicular distance visual data collected using appropriate protocols, either along line transects at ground-level or by aerial surveys. Radial distance measurements (observer-target direct-line distances) usually provide more accurate and precise estimates. WildlifeDensity can also obtain density estimates in other ways, such as by using distance data collected during roadside surveys within restricted ranges of distances.
The program is relatively straightforward to use in estimating the densities of many populations of scientific interest, including naturally mobile species for which relevant data on movement rates are also available, and populations that are in vegetation well above or below observer eye level. Unlike the well-known Distance technique, complete detectability at the transect line is not required. Version 2.5 is a transitional version from earlier versions, standardising many observer calculations during data processing by setting class interval widths automatically. WilflifeDensity can be used, shared and modified for its intended purpose without charge, provided that appropriate credit is given and a link to its source provided, and no additional restrictions to its use applied.
WildlifeDensity is designed to work on a recent model Apple 'Macintosh' computer with a current version of Apple's macOS operating system installed, such as macOS 13 (Ventura), macOS 14 (Sonoma) or a later version. The more recent the operating system, the better the program should run. It is unlikely to operate correctly on processors with other operating systems.
From November 2023 onwards, Apple has required that independently-produced apps such as WildlifeDensity are notarised (authenticated) using an Apple-approved procedure to identify any code-signing issues and malicious components before routine operation. This particular WildlifeDensity version (WD-2_5) contains some important changes from earlier versions that may not have been fully notarised. The most significant of these was to replace operator control of class interval width during program operation with automatic width selection, thus standardising followup calculations controlled by different investigators. You may therefore be required to implement an appropriate workaround procedure before WildlifeDensity app will run as intended. (This is included in Step 3 of the installation procedure below).
It is useful if your computer also includes an installed version of Microsoft Excel for Mac or a similar spreadsheet program useful for data uploading, and an app that can read text and other files, such as the TextEdit app installed on current Macs. [It is helpful but not essential to have also a dedicated text application as well, such as Bare Bones Software's BBEdit. BBEdit is available aa a free download at www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/demo.html.]
Download and install whichever of these you require either now or once you have installed WildlifeDensity.
WildlifeDensity has been developed and made available as a service to wildlife managers, their contractors and staff, ecologists and other researchers and field workers engaged in the study or monitoring of natural populations. WildlifeDensity is freeware: that is, the program is licensed free of charge. It has been made available as a potentially useful tool, but without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including fitness for any particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the software rests with the user who, should the program prove defective, will assume any costs associated with their use of the software. Under no circumstances will the copyright holder or any other party who may redistribute the material be liable to the user for damages.
Current version: 2.5
(Last Updated: July 2024)
WildlifeDensity is updated on a regular basis. Please check back occasionally to ensure you have the most recent version installed (version number is included in the filename).
Copyright © 2024, School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Wilsons Promontory Virtual Herbarium
The Wilsons Promontory VirtualHerbarium website provides access to a significant collection of plant and algal species from Wilsons Promontory National Park. It is a publicly accessible online resource for the use of field naturalists, researchers and students of botany and related disciplines. Species pages of almost 500 taxa from 124 families are presented, with images and information about the distribution, descriptive features of the plant, as well as links to additional information, maps and images. You can search for species by various features, including name, flower colour and habitat.