The Department of Biology has established a number of partnerships with local, state, and regional environmental and aquatic science research centers, biotechnology firms, and allied health care institutions. These partnerships provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to interact with practicing scientists in a wide variety of professions including medical sciences, river studies, aquatic toxicology, fisheries biology, watershed studies, food science, and seed genetics to name a few. These opportunities are in the form of internships, job shadowing, and undergraduate research, some of which are university funded. Many of these experiences result in summer jobs and part-time employment for students.

Students develop a curriculum around specific career goals. Each student meets individually with their faculty adviser each semester. The diversity of the faculty in the department provides a wide array of both classroom and non-classroom opportunities for student learning.

Undergraduate research is an important part of the biology program and provides excellent opportunities for students to receive both individualized and unique learning experiences. Graduates of the programs in biology have traditionally been very competitive in the job markets and for entrance into graduate and other professional programs. In the last four years, 65% of biology majors have gone onto graduate or professional school, and 98% of the remaining students were employed within a year of graduation.

Core Requirements

BIO 105 General Biology
BIO 203 Organismal Biology
BIO 306 Genetics
BIO 307 Ecology
BIO 315 Cell Biology
BIO 491 Capstone Seminar in Biology