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Biology B.S.

Mission Statement


The Biology program identifies as its central role to create scientific literacy in addressing biological issues, enhancing opportunities for a diverse student population to enter graduate, professional and entry-level career positions in biology. The Biology program infrastructure provides ongoing support, guidance and encouragement to our students as they strive to meet personal and professional goals.

Learning Outcomes


Biology students will be supported in mastering the outcomes below:

1. Students will develop scientific literacy.

  • Students will understand the definition and importance of scientific terms relevant to discussions of modern scientific issues.
  • Students will be able to discern opinion form evidence-supported facts and theories.
  • Students will be able to understand graphical representations, in addition to written descriptions, of data and the scientific process from primary literature.
  • Students will be able to generate data and communicate the data (and the process used to obtain it) in graphical and written form.

2. Students will develop proficiency with important tools of modern science

  • Students will be able to effectively use equipment required for scientific discovery in the laboratory and in the field.
  • Students will be able to effectively use relevant computational tools required for scientific discovery and analysis.
  • Students will be able to design and execute experiments that would effectively address scientific questions.

3. Students will appreciate the vast, interconnected biodiversity of life on earth

  • Students will understand how mutation contributes to evolution and the generation of new species.
  • Students will be able to identify various biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem.
  • Students will be able to predict impacts of disturbances on the biodiversity of an ecosystem.

4. Students will understand the cell as a fundamental unit of life

  • Students will be able to identify and describe the function of subcellular structures.
  • Students will be able to predict physiological dysfunction in cells and organism with impaired cellular or genetic components.