The laboratory is composed of a 1400 sq. ft. Biosafety Level II certified research facility and an additional laboratory for specialized RNA isolation and gene expression studies.  The main laboratory has two adjacent office spaces for graduate students, Post-Docs, and lab personnel and houses our Apple bioinformatics computer cluster.  We have complete facilities for metagenomic and metatranscriptomic studies of complex microbial communities/biofilm culturing/microbial antibiotic resistance research.

The laboratory is fully equipped for microbial community analysis, including bioinformatics computer cluster, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), Pulsed-Filed Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), Gradient Thermal Cycler, Electroporator, incubators, peristaltic pumps and flow cells for biofilm culturing, U.V. and non-U.V. gel imaging systems, and fume and biological hoods.  The lab also maintains field equipment at the Gerace Marine Biological Center located on San Salvador, Bahamas.

The Norman Laboratory is also adjacent to departmental equipment such as walk in cold rooms and autoclaves.  We are also located adjacent to the state of the art USC genomics facility which houses a Roche 454 FLX genome analyzer, ABI 3730 DNA sequencer, Affymetrix microarray system, Real-time PCR, DNA Hydroshear, and a confocal microscope