Biological Sciences Major

The interdisciplinary major in biological sciences, offered by the Biology Department, consists of courses in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and computer science. Students may choose the general track or may customize the major by selecting a concentration either in ecology or in cellular and molecular biology.

Requirements

The major consists of fourteen courses: five core courses, two quantitative and physical science courses, one capstone course, and six electives dependent on the track or concentration. One of the electives must be a course with an organismal focus. The Advanced Placement examination in biology may not be counted toward the major.

Core courses

All biological sciences majors must take the following courses:

BIO 106CELLS

4

or

BIO 110ACCELERATED CELL BIOLOGY

4

BIO 207ECOLOGY

4

BIO 208GENETICS

4

CHM 103GENERAL CHEMISTRY

5

and

CHM 104GENERAL CHEMISTRY

5

or

CHM 107ADV GENERAL CHEMISTRY

4

and

CHM 204INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

5

One Course with an Organismal Focus

All majors must take one course with an organismal focus from the following list of courses

BIO 202HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 214/PSY 214BIOPSYCHOLOGY

4

BIO 224ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

4

BIO 215INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY

4

BIO 302MOLECULAR DEVELOPMENT

4

BIO 329ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 330MICROBIOLOGY

4

BOT 205PLANTS, PROTISTS & FUNGI

4

BOT 305PLANT STRUCT AND FUNCTION

4

BOT 225SYSTEMATIC BOT/LOCAL FLORA

4

BOT 320ENVIRONMNTL PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

4

Quantitative and physical science courses

All majors must take two of the following courses:

STA 107INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS

4

MAT 111CALC A: LIMITS AND DERIVATIVES

4

MAT 112CALC B: DERIVATIVES/INTEGRALS

4

MAT 113CALC C: INTEGRALS AND SERIES

4

STA 206STATISTICAL METHODS

4

STA 207ADVANCED REGRESSION TECHNIQ

4

MAT 212MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS

4

PSY 201PSYCHOLOGICAL STATISTICS

4

COM 110CC:INTRO COMP SCI & PROB SOLV

4

COM 212DATA STRUCTURES

4

PHY 107GENERAL PHYSICS

4

PHY 108GENERAL PHYSICS

4

PHY 109ADVANCED GENERAL PHYSICS I

4

PHY 110ADVANCED GENERAL PHYSICS II

4

CHM 223ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

5

CHM 224ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

5

For students concentrating in ecology, one of these courses must be in statistics (MAT 107, MAT 206, MAT 207, MAT 208, or PSY 201). Students considering graduate school or a career in the health professions are strongly encouraged to take organic chemistry, physics, and calculus or statistics, and so should complete more than the minimum number of required courses.

Capstone course

All majors must take one of the following Capstone courses during their senior year

BIO 493SEMINAR IN BIOLOGY

4

BOT 493SEMINAR IN BOTANY

4

BIO 391INDIVIDUAL STUDY

2 - 4

BIO 392INDIVIDUAL STUDY

2 - 4

BOT 391INDIVIDUAL STUDY

2 - 4

BOT 392INDIVIDUAL STUDY

2 - 4

BIO 415BEHAVR/ECOLGY OF MARINE MAMMAL

4

BIO 497HONORS STUDY

4

BIO 498HONORS STUDY

4

BOT 497HONORS STUDY

4

BOT 498HONORS STUDY

4

Electives:

General Biological Sciences Major Elective Requirements

Students may take any five courses chosen from additional offerings in biology (excluding BIO 201) or botany, or in organic chemistry (CHM 223, CHM 224) or biochemistry (CHM 303). Science-based Environmental Studies courses may be selected with approval of the major adviser. All of these courses must be at the 200 level or higher, with at least one at the 300 or 400 level; at least two of the courses must include a laboratory component.

Advisers:  P. Barnes, A. Bernhard, D. Eastman, M. Grossel, K. Hardeman, P. Hine, C. Jones, M. Lizarralde, P. Owen, P. Siver, S. Suriyapperuma.

Ecology Concentration

Students will take three courses from the two areas listed below, one from the Ecology area, one from the Biological Diversity area, and one additional course from either area.


Students must take one of the following Ecology courses:

BIO 305MARINE ECOLOGY

4

BIO 307/BOT 307FRESHWATER ECOLOGY

4

BIO 310/ES 310CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

4

BIO 312MOLECULAR ECOLOGY

4

BIO 320TROPICAL BIOLOGY

4

BIO 413/BOT 413WETLAND ECOLOGY

4

BOT 315PLANT ECOLOGY

4

Students must take one of the following Biological Diversity courses

BIO 204ORNITHOLOGY

4

BIO 215INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY

4

BIO 330MICROBIOLOGY

4

BOT 205PLANTS, PROTISTS & FUNGI

4

BOT 225SYSTEMATIC BOT/LOCAL FLORA

4

BOT 410MARINE & FRESHWATER BOTANY

4

Students must take two of the following additional electives

BIO 224ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

4

BIO 340EVOLUTION

4

BIO 429COMPARATIVE ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

4

BOT 115CC: HOW PLANTS FEED THE WORLD

4

BOT 207/ES 207SEM: INDIG USE TROP RAINFOREST

4

BOT 311/ANT 311/ES 311ETHNOBOT SOUTHERN NEW ENGL

4

or any course listed in the concentration not already selected

Science-based Environmental Studies courses and other biology or botany courses may be selected with approval of the major adviser.

Cellular and Molecular Biology Concentration

Students must take two of the following foundational courses

BIO 302MOLECULAR DEVELOPMENT

4

BIO 309MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY

4

BIO 325/BOT 325CELL ULTRASTRUCTURE

4

CHM 303BIOCHEMISTRY

4

CHM 324BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY

4

Students must take three of the following Additional electives

BIO 202HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 208GENETICS

4

BIO 298GENOMICS,PROTEOMICS,BIOINFORM

4

BIO 312MOLECULAR ECOLOGY

4

BIO 322/PSY 322PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

4

BIO 330MICROBIOLOGY

4

BIO 340EVOLUTION

4

BIO 409/PSY 409BEHAVIORAL ENDOCRINOLOGY

4

BIO 429COMPARATIVE ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

4

BOT 305PLANT STRUCT AND FUNCTION

4

CHM 223ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

5

CHM 224ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

5

or any foundational course not already selected

One course from additional offerings in biology or botany may be selected with approval of the major adviser.

Students may not count both BIO 322 and BIO 409 toward this concentration.