That's where biology, the largest and fastest growing scientific discipline, comes in. Advances in biology ? in fields such as biotechnology, medical research and genetic engineering ? improve the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people and lead to the development of stress-tolerant crops, new chemotherapy drugs, more sensitive techniques in forensic science and the use of bacteria and plants to clean up pollution. But there's still so much to learn and accomplish.

Our biology courses emphasize science as a way of learning through laboratory and field-based experiences. These experiences involve our students in practicing scientific thinking by posing testable questions, designing small-scale research projects, collecting, analyzing and interpreting data and presenting findings. These experiences also allow our students to gain technical skills.

Significant research opportunities include paid summer internships and academic projects during the school year. Research projects span many subdisciplines of biology and take advantage of our state-of-the-art laboratories and wide array of habitats within easy reach of campus. Approximately half of our majors have significant research experience by graduation.