Biological Sciences Major

The interdisciplinary major in biological sciences, offered by the Biology Department, consists of courses selected from biology, botany, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, and/or physics. Students may choose the General Track or may select a concentration either in Ecology or in Cellular and Molecular Biology.

Requirements

The major consists of thirteen courses: three foundational biology courses, two chemistry core courses, two quantitative and physical science courses, one capstone course, and five elective courses 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.

 

Advisors: P. Barnes, A. Bernhard, S. Douglass, D. Eastman, M. Grossel, K. Hardeman, M. Imad, T. McMahon, C. Parker-Athill, M. Rosa, S. Suriyapperuma.

Foundational and Core Courses

All biological sciences majors must take the following courses: 

BIO 120INTRO TO BIOLOGICAL INQUIRY

4

BIO 209CELLS AND MOLECULES

4

BIO 210ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION

4

CHM 103GENERAL CHEMISTRY

4

and

CHM 104GENERAL CHEMISTRY

4

or

CHM 107ADV GENERAL CHEMISTRY

4

Quantitative and physical science courses

All majors must take two of the following courses:

BIO 235/STA 235BIOLOGICAL STATISTICS

4

STA 107INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS

4

STA 206STATISTICAL METHODS

4

STA 207ADVANCED REGRESSION TECHNIQ

4

MAT 111CALC A: LIMITS AND DERIVATIVES

4

MAT 112CALC B: DERIVATIVES/INTEGRALS

4

MAT 113CALC C: INTEGRALS AND SERIES

4

MAT 212MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS

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

For students in the Ecology Concentration, one of these courses must be in statistics (BIO 235, STA 107, STA 206, or STA 207). Students considering graduate school or a career in the health professions are strongly encouraged to take physics and calculus or statistics, and so they 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 497HONORS STUDY

4

BIO 498HONORS STUDY

4

BIO 391, BIO 392, BOT 391, or BOT 392 must be taken for 4 credits.

Electives: General Track

Students will take any five courses chosen from additional offerings in biology (excluding BIO 201), or botany, or organic chemistry (CHM 223), or biochemistry (CHM 303 or CHM 324). (Note: CHM 303 requires both CHM 223 and CHM 224 as prerequisites.) At least three of these courses must be in Biology. 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. At least one of these five courses must have an organismal focus (see following list).

 

Courses with an Organismal Focus:

BIO 202HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 204ORNITHOLOGY

4

BIO 215INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY

4

BIO 224ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

4

BIO 302MOLECULAR DEVELOPMENT

4

BIO 316/NEU 316NEUROPHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 329ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 330MICROBIOLOGY

4

BIO 332THE ECOLOGY OF SYMBIOSIS

4

BIO 340EVOLUTION

4

BIO 429COMPARATIVE ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 442BEHAVIORAL GENETICS

4

Electives: Ecology Concentration

Students will take five electives. Three of these courses will be from the Ecology area and the Biological Diversity area: two courses from one area and one course from the other.  At least one of the five electives must be a course with an organismal focus (see list under General Track).

 

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

Biological Diversity courses:

BIO 204ORNITHOLOGY

4

BIO 215INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY

4

BIO 330MICROBIOLOGY

4

BIO 332THE ECOLOGY OF SYMBIOSIS

4

Additional courses:

Students will take two additional electives, either from the Ecology and Biological Diversity courses (not already taken) or from the list below. 

BIO 224ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

4

BIO 340EVOLUTION

4

BIO 429COMPARATIVE ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

4

BOT 207/ANT 207/ES 207INDIG USE TROPICAL RAINFORESTS

4

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

4

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

Electives: Cellular and Molecular Biology Concentration

Foundational courses

Students must take two of the following foundational courses. (Any additional foundational courses that are taken may count as one of the three additional electives.)

BIO 298GENOMICS,EPIGENOMICS,TRANSCRIP

4

BIO 302MOLECULAR DEVELOPMENT

4

BIO 309MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY

4

BIO 312MOLECULAR ECOLOGY

4

BIO 316/NEU 316NEUROPHYSIOLOGY

4

CHM 303BIOCHEMISTRY

4

Additional electives (Cellular and Molecular Biology)

Students must take three additional electives, one of which must have an organismal focus (BIO 202BIO 302, BIO 316, BIO 329, BIO 330, BIO 340, or BIO 442).  Any additional foundational courses that are taken from above may count as one of the three additional electives.

BIO 202HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 203/COM 203BIOINFORMATICS

4

BIO 301GENETICS

4

BIO 312MOLECULAR ECOLOGY

4

BIO 325/BOT 325CELL ULTRASTRUCTURE

4

BIO 329ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 330MICROBIOLOGY

4

BIO 340EVOLUTION

4

BIO 409/PSY 409/NEU 409BEHAVIORAL ENDOCRINOLOGY

4

BIO 429COMPARATIVE ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

4

BIO 442BEHAVIORAL GENETICS

4

CHM 223ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

5

One course from additional offerings in biology or botany or chemistry may be selected with approval of the major advisor. Students may not count both BIO 322 and BIO 409 toward this concentration.  (Note: CHM 303 requires both CHM 223 and CHM 224 as prerequisites.)

Advisors: P. Barnes, A. Bernhard, S. Douglass, D. Eastman, M. Grossel, K. Hardeman, M. Imad, T. McMahon, C. Parker-Athill, M. Rosa, S. Suriyapperuma.