About
the Department
The Department of Biological Sciences
offers excellent instruction and research opportunities
for students pursuing the Bachelor of Science degree and
the Associate of Science degree in Biology. In addition, students wishing
to pursue a career in secondary education can obtain the
B.S. in Biology with an emphasis in Teacher Licensure.
The department faculty consists
of 14 full time faculty (13 with doctoral degrees) with
diverse teaching and research interests. Students can pursue
programs of study in organismal biology, cell and molecular
biology, or ecology and evolutionary biology. In addition,
the individual student's program can be tailored to prepare
for applying to medical, dental, veterinary, and other professional
schools. We presently have approximately 260 students majoring
in biology about 40 of which are seeking teacher licensure.
The remaining students have diverse interests and are pursuing
careers in medicine, wildlife biology, botany, zoology,
ecology, nursing, cell biology and biotechnology.
Students seeking B.S. degrees
are required to take Attributes of Living Systems, Botany,
Zoology, Genetics, and Senior Thesis. There are also 20
credit hours of biology courses that the students selects
in consultation with their academic advisors. In addition,
biology students are required to complete a minimum of one
year of mathematics, one year of physics, and one year of
chemistry. Pre-med students, Pre-vet students, and students seeking admission
to graduate schools must meet additional requirements in
chemistry.
We offer students research experience
in both laboratory and field settings. Students can work
closely with faculty on projects that range from molecular biology to tropical ecology. Instruction and
research is supported by a new science building housing
state of the art equipment. The Department of Biology operates
the only electron microscope facility, with both scanning
and transmission electron microscopes, between Denver and
Salt Lake City. We are also home to the Western Colorado
Center for Tropical Research. Our department is outfitted
with a greenhouse, herbarium, molecular genetics laboratory,
animal care facility, and a modern computer classroom. Many
of our students who have pursued research while they were here have gone on to obtain
Masters and Doctoral degrees through graduate education
at other institutions such as Cornell University, the University of Colorado, Tulane University, the University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University, the University of Utah, and Washington State University.
The faculty here pride themselves
on providing outstanding learning experiences for undergraduates
in small classroom settings. It is not uncommon for students
to take 2 or 3 courses from a single professor. In addition,
the faculty often teach the laboratory sections associated
with many of the lecture courses. The close and consistent
mentoring of students by the faculty allows for better learning
opportunities when compared to those offered by larger institutions.
