Required Coursework

Printer Friendly Requirements (pdf, 78KB)

To obtain a BS in Biology you must satisfy the Biology Major Requirements, the General University Requirements and complete a minimum of 128 credits.

Biology Major Requirements:

The requirements for a BS in Biology consist of 35 credits in Biological Sciences plus cognate courses in Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science. The following requirements define the major in Biology. All required courses listed below, including cognate courses, must be completed with a grade of C or better.

1. Core Courses

General Biology (R120:101&102) 8 crs.
Foundations of Biology (R120:301&302) 4 crs.

2.  Majors must complete one course from each of the three categories listed below.

A. Ecology and Evolution
Evolution (R120:322)
Plant Ecology (R120:370)
Animal Ecology (R120:380)
Animal Behavior (R120:382)    

B. The Functional Organism (4 credits)
Plant Kingdom (R120:211)
Biology of Seed Plants (R120:230)
Plant Physiology (R120:330)
General Microbiology (R120:335)
Mammalian Physiology (R120:340)
Developmental Biology & Lab (R120:342&343) 

C. Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms
Genetics (R120:352)
Cell Biology (R120:355)
Molecular Biology (R120:356)
Biochemistry (R120:360 OR Chem 473) 

D. Computational
Physiology & Medicine (Math 371)
Population Biology (Math 372)
Intro to Math Biology (Math 373)
Computational Neuroscience (Math 430)

3. Majors are required to have at least two additional laboratory courses chosen from 2B or from the list below.

Laboratory Courses - 4 credits
Taxonomy Vascular Plants (R120:311)
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (R120:320)
Animal Parasites and Lab (R120:325 & 326)
Biology of Invertebrates (R120:327)
Microanatomy (R120:358)
Micology (R120:413)
Plant Growth & Dev. (R120:430)
Marine Biology (R120:481)

Laboratory Courses - 3 credits
Ecology of Birds (R120:328)
Field Studies Plant Ecol. (R120:371)
Field Studies Animal Ecol. (R120:381)
Field Ecology (R120:470)    

Laboratory Courses - 2 credits
Tropical Field Biology (R120:486)

4. The following courses may be used to complete 35 credits of biology:

Neurobiology (R120:346)
Human Ecology (R120:365)
Biological Ultrastructure (R120:403)
Light & Elect Microsco. (R120:404)
Biological Invasions (R120:422)
Immunology (R120:443)
Endocrinology (R120:445)
Cellular Biophysics (R120:451)
Molecular Biotechnology. (R120:452)
Molecular Cell Biology (R120:455)
Ecological Physiology (R120:471)
Systems Ecology (R120:487)
Research in Biology (Biol 491/492)

5. The following cognate courses are required:

          General Chemistry I and II, and Laboratory
          Chem 124, 125, and 126

Organic Chemistry I and II, and Laboratory
Chem 243, 244, and 244A 

Physics I and II, and Laboratory
Phys 111/111A and 121/121A

Calculus II and III
Math 112 and 211

Probability and Statistics (Math 333)

One of the following:

• Differential Equations (Math 222)
• Discrete Analysis (Math 226)
• Linear Algebra (Math 337)
• Appl. Mum. Meth. (Math 340)

        Computer Science Elective Choice of:

        Any CS course, except 310, 410 and 375
        BNFO 235 IS 118, 265, IS 431.