The Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion at Saint Vincent College is more than just a building. It's a symbol of the school's commitment to science education. I am particularly impressed by the facility's innovative design elements -- inspired by science and math themes -- alongside its multi-use labs where different sciences can cross-pollinate their methods, tools, and ideas toward a greater understanding of the physical world.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist

The Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion

The Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion is the home to The Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing. This unique, 113,260 square foot pavilion supports the school in its effort to offer undergraduate and graduate students a rigorous, integrated curriculum grounded in the sciences and the Catholic, Benedictine tradition. The pavilion's first four buildings had renovation and new construction between 2010-2013 that comprised 102,000 square feet. In 2017 the James F. Will Engineering and Biomedical Sciences Hall added an additional 11,260 square feet of space to the pavilion. These principles create an environment for study characterized by mutual respect, personal attention and open dialogue. 

Inside the pavilion, to support the Boyer School, you will also find:

  • The Angelo Taiani Planetarium and Astronaut Exhibit
  • The Dr. Frank J. Luparello Lecture Hall
  • The Digital Imaging Lab
  • The Ralph Liberatore Human Anatomy Lab

Outside the pavilion, and a short walk, you will find:

  • Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve (WPNR)
Planetariumboyer-planetarium
Angelo J. Taiani Planetarium and Astronaut Exhibit

Angelo J Taiani PlanetariumSaint Vincent College is proud to have the Angelo J. Taiani Planetarium and Astronaut Exhibit in the Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion where public planetarium shows are regularly scheduled. Shows are conducted by one of the members of the College’s Department of Physics – Dr. John Smetanka, Dr. Dan Vanden Berk or Br. Lawrence Machia, O.S.B.

All shows are free of charge. Because of limited seating we ask that reservations be made by calling the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Science, Mathematics, and Computing at 724-805-2631, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additional public shows may be added based on demand. Private shows can also be scheduled for groups of 15 to 35 people. We especially welcome scout groups by appointments who wish to fulfill requirements for merit badges. Appointments can be arranged by calling the Boyer School.

View Photos from Solar Eclipse – Star Party, Aug. 21st

 

The Veil Nebula in Cygnus

the-veil-nebula-for-webThis color image was taken this summer with the 14-inch Schmitt-Cassegrain telescope at the Saint Vincent College Observatory. Narrow-band filters were used to highlight shocked Hydrogen (red) and Oxygen (blue) plasma.  The Veil Nebula is the remnant of a supernovae, the explosion of a massive star, several thousand years ago.  This is one example of the many astrophysical phenomena visualized and discussed in the Planetarium shows.
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Luparello Lecture Hall
The Dr. Frank J. Luparello Lecture Hall

 

The Dr. Frank Luparello Lecture Hall pays tribute to an outstanding teacher and physician, the late Dr. Frank Luparello, C'49. Dr. Luparello's illustrious medical career spanned more than 50 years, which all began with the Benedictine teachers he had as an undergraduate pre-med student at Saint Vincent.
Digital Imaging Labboyer-digital-imaging-lab
Digital Imaging Lab
A Centralized Facility for Digital Imaging, Analysis, and Quantitation

Digital Imaging LabThe Digital Imaging Lab (DIL) is supported by a National Science Foundation Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Grant #0510230 and Saint Vincent College

The Digital Imaging Lab is utilized by faculty and students throughout the natural science curriculum for inquiry-based classroom and/or laboratory-based activities and for faculty and student research projects.

The DIL occupies rooms 207 and 208 in the biology building. Room 207 houses the Molecular Imager and Multidetection Microtiter Plate Reader, while room 208 houses the Microscopy Suite which is equipped with student and instructor stations for imaging with four types of microscopy.

Equipment

Microscopy Suite
The DIL facility consists of eight student microscopy stations, one instructor station, and a molecular imaging station, each with image acquisition and analysis capability. In all, there are thirteen microscopes, representing four types of optical microscopy (compound, inverted, stereo, and polarizing).

Student Stations
Each of the eight student stations are outfitted with modified Olympus CX41 upright microscopes with capacity for bright field, phase contrast, dark field, and three-color fluorescence microscopy. All eight microscopes are equipped with a dedicated 5 megapixel Olympus Q-color 5 cooled color digital camera connected to a PC loaded with four types of image analysis software.

Instructor Station
The instructor station contains two microscopes, a Olympus BX-51 research-grade upright microscope with bright field, dark field, fluorescence, and differential interference contrast (DIC) capabilities, and a Olympus IX51 research-grade inverted microscope with phase contrast and fluorescence functionalities for cell culture work. A PC-connected 12.1 megapixel Olympus DP70 megapixel cooled color camera resident at the station can be mounted to either scope.

Additional Microscopes
The facility also contains two Olympus SZX-9 student/research grade dissection microscopes that can be readily connected to any of the camera-PC combinations and one Olympus CX-31 Pol student-grade polarizing microscope with a 360° stage for examination of thin sections of minerals and amyloid bundles in prion-containing yeast cells and cultured neurons.

Projection
An Epson 3000 lumens wireless digital projector projects images from the various stages for group viewing.

Molecular Imager
A Fuji LAS-3000 molecular imager used to digitize and quantitatively analyze 1-D and 2-D protein gels, nucleic acid gels, and fluorescent or chemiluminescent protein or nucleic acid blots.

Microtiter Plate Reader
A Biotek Synergy HT multi-detection microtiter plate reader with capabilities for absorbance monitoring between 200-1000nm, fluorescence (top or bottom read), time-resolved fluorescence, luminescence, sample injection, incubation and shaking is used to quantify reactions or assays in 6-384 well plates.
WPNRwpnr-boyer
WPNR

The Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve provide students with outdoor laboratories and places on campus to relax in a natural setting.