Dobo Hall Matching Game

Faculty, staff and students are thrilled to be back in UNCW's Dobo Hall after Hurricane Florence destroyed its roof and lab spaces in 2018. The 110,000-square-foot science building repairs helped to create a more-sound structure for future hazardous weather and provided the opportunity to reconfigure the space so it meets the demands of rapidly changing research expectations in the biological, chemical and environmental sciences.

Dobo Hall is named in honor of brothers Gabriel William "Bill" Dobo '51 and Robert "Bob" Ridgely Dobo Sr. '50, Wilmington College alumni, whose vision of establishing two private water companies furthered the growth and development of New Hanover County. Their professional accomplishments were marked by innovation and dedication to service and water quality. The two, with their wives Barbara "Barby" Beckwith Dobo and Dorothy "Dot" Gray Dobo, became great friends and philanthropic partners of the university, establishing a $5 million dollar endowment through their estates. The brothers jointly received the Alumni of the Year award from the UNCW Alumni Association in 2005. Learn more » 

UNCW’s efforts to advance research and scholarly activities were rewarded in 2018 with the institution’s Carnegie designation of "Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity." The renovated Dobo Hall houses high-impact research within the Department of Biology and Marine Biology. Organisms are studied for their evolvement, structure, physiological and biochemical processes, interactions with each other and with the environment, and response to climate change. The work conducted in Dobo Hall, which includes applied learning opportunities, spans the widest of ranges — from tiny viruses and microscopic plankton, to plants and animals in the tropics and all the way to the poles with penguins and seals. Dobo Hall is also home to the world-class Richard Dillaman Bioimaging Facility that supports teaching and training, applied learning and research activity across multiple disciplines.

Dobo Hall has been the home of several youth camps hosted by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Through these community offerings, UNCW students are able to provide hands-on learning experiences to campers through science experiments and more.  Learn more about the department's community outreach activities »

The Chemical Instrumentation Facility (CheIF) is a shared instrument facility located in Dobo Hall administered by the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. The mission of the facility is to provide major analytical instruments to support research projects from principle investigators, graduate students and undergraduate students at UNCW in the areas of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS), spectrophotometry and others fields.

The newly renovated Dobo Hall is now the home of the Department of Environmental Sciences. Department chair, Jeff Hill, described the renovated building as purpose-driven. “The functionality of the building is remarkable. Laboratories for environmental sciences faculty are well-designed to meet researchers’ specific needs, and the faculty offices, seminar rooms and common areas have been created for collaboration,” he said. “Our move to Dobo Hall provides us with the opportunity to not only grow, but to better meet our commitment to teaching, scholarship and service.” The building is also conveniently located to the Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve — a living laboratory for students in the major.