Biology Department
Professors: Ann L. Boyd, Drew Ferrier, Ricky Hirschhorn, Craig Laufer, Oney P. Smith
Professor Emerita: Laura Betsy Estilow
Associate Professors: Eric Annis, April Boulton, Susan Carney, Kathy Falkenstein (chair), Eric Kindahl
Associate Professor Emeritus: Jeffrey L. Rossio
Assistant Professors: Rachel Beyer, Miranda Darby, Georgette Jones, Daehwan Kim
The Department of Biology offers two programs of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree and three programs leading to a Master of Science degree. A biology minor, a coastal studies minor and an environmental science minor are also offered.
The undergraduate major in biology leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree. Biology majors also may earn secondary teaching certification.
The environmental science and policy major is an interdisciplinary major leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree, administered by the departments of biology; chemistry and physics; economics and management; and political science. Students who choose this major take a common core of environmental studies, natural sciences and social sciences courses, then concentrate in environmental biology, environmental chemistry, environmental policy or coastal and watershed studies. Each area of study is structured to meet the particular goals of that program. There is ample freedom in the course selection, however, to allow for programs tailored to individual needs.
The Master of Science degree is offered in bioinformatics, biomedical science and in environmental biology.
Facilities: The department is housed in the Hodson Science and Technology Center. All laboratory facilities are either completely new or newly renovated. Lecture and lab classrooms have the latest in multimedia classroom presentation hardware. Specially designed and equipped labs for molecular biology, microbiology, physiology and animal behavior are available for course work and student and faculty research. Additional facilities such as dark room, cold room, tissue culture lab, fluorescence microscopy and an environmental analysis lab are all available for teaching and faculty and student research. Students can conduct environmental analyses using high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, atomic absorption and other analytical instruments. A greenhouse, environmental chambers and aquatic laboratory are available to grow and study plants and animals. Other major instrumentation includes a scanning electron microscope, ultracentrifuge and automated DNA sequencer. Along with the new teaching labs and classrooms, specially designed laboratories for student and faculty research enhance the opportunities for students to join with the faculty in pursuing work from the biochemical to the ecological.
Undergraduate Programs Offered:
Graduate Programs Offered: