Kathy Gillen

This is the first laboratory course a student takes and is a prerequisite for all upper-division laboratory courses- required for the major. Students are introduced to the processes of investigative biology and scientific writing. Laboratories cover topics presented in the core lecture courses, BIOL 115 and 116, and introduce a variety of techniques and topics, including field sampling, microscopy, PCR, gel electrophoresis, enzyme biochemistry, physiology, evolution and population biology. The course emphasizes the development of inquiry skills through active involvement in experimental design, data collection and management, statistical analysis, integration of results with information reported in the literature, and writing in a format appropriate for publication. The year culminates in six-week student-designed investigations that reinforce the research skills developed during the year. Evaluation is based on laboratory notebooks, lab performance and scientific papers, as well as oral and written presentations summarizing the independent project. Prerequisite: completion or concurrent enrollment in BIOL 115 or equivalent.

This is the first laboratory course a student takes and is a prerequisite for all upper-division laboratory courses- required for the major. Students are introduced to the processes of investigative biology and scientific writing. Laboratories cover topics presented in the core lecture courses, BIOL 115 and 116, and introduce a variety of techniques and topics, including field sampling, microscopy, PCR, gel electrophoresis, enzyme biochemistry, physiology, evolution and population biology. The course emphasizes the development of inquiry skills through active involvement in experimental design, data collection, statistical analysis, integration of results with information reported in the literature and writing in a format appropriate for publication. The year culminates in six-week student-designed investigations that reinforce the research skills developed during the year. Evaluation is based on short reports, quizzes, lab performance and scientific papers, as well as oral and written presentations based on the independent project. Prerequisite: BIOL 109Y and 115 or equivalent.

This course is required for the major (AP or IB credit can be applied), therefore, biology majors should take this class prior to the junior year. Energy flow is a unifying principle across a range of living systems, from cells to ecosystems. With energy flow as a major theme, this course covers macromolecules, cells, respiration and photosynthesis, physiology and homeostasis, population and community interactions, and ecosystems. Throughout the course, the diversity of life is explored. The course also introduces students to the process of scientific thinking through discussion of research methodology and approaches. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

This course is required for the major, therefore, biology majors should take this class prior to the junior year. How is information generated, transmitted, stored and maintained in biological systems? The endeavor to understand the flow of biological information represents a fundamental undertaking of the life sciences. This course examines the mechanisms of heredity, the replication and expression of genetic information and the function of genes in the process of evolution, with an emphasis on the tools of genetics and molecular biology to address research questions in these areas. Prerequisite: BIOL 115 or equivalent. Offered every year.

This course introduces students to the wide variety of questions being asked by researchers in this exciting field and the approaches they are taking to answer them. This course complements BIOL 263 in content, concentrating on the nongenomic aspects of the cell. We cover topics such as biological membranes and ion channels, cell organelles and their function, cell regulation, and intercellular and intracellular communication. This counts toward the upper-level cellular/molecular biology requirement for the major. Prerequisite: BIOL 116. Prerequisite or corequisite: CHEM 121 or 122. Generally offered every other year.

Cell signaling, a molecular choreography, allows cells to respond to changes in their internal and external environment. This vast and exciting field of study underpins one of the pillars of life, the ability of organisms to sense and respond to changing conditions. This course introduces students to the major players in signal transduction and how they coordinate to mount an effective cellular response, with a focus on techniques used to study pathways. Examples of particular pathways examined may include chemotaxis in bacteria, mating response in yeast, energy homeostasis in animals and phototropism in plants. Students are expected to actively participate in class discussions of assigned readings and critically evaluate primary literature. As a final project, students teach their peers about a pathway of interest. BIOL 263 is recommended but not required. This counts toward the upper-level cellular/molecular biology requirement for the major. Prerequisite: CHEM 121 or equivalent, BIOL 116, any 200-level biology course. Junior or senior standing.

This combined discussion and laboratory course aims to develop abilities for asking sound research questions, designing reasonable scientific approaches to answer such questions, and performing experiments to test both the design and the question. We consider how to assess difficulties and limitations in experimental strategies due to design, equipment, organism selected and so on. The course provides a detailed understanding of selected modern research equipment. Students select their own research problems in consultation with one or more biology faculty members. This course is designed both for those who plan to undertake honors research in their senior year and for those who are not pursuing honors but want practical research experience. A student can begin the course in either semester. If a year of credit is earned, it may be applied toward one laboratory requirement for the major in biology. This course is repeatable for credit. Prerequisite: BIOL 109Y–110Y and 116 and permission of instructor.

This course provides the student with the opportunity to pursue an independent investigation of a topic of special interest not covered, or not covered in depth, in the current curriculum. The investigation, designed in consultation with the chosen faculty mentor, may be designed to earn 0.25 or 0.5 unit of credit in a semester. BIOL 393 is ordinarily a library-oriented investigation. (For laboratory-oriented independent research, see BIOL 385.) Normally, students receive credit for no more than two semesters of individual study. Individual study does not fulfill the natural science diversification requirement, nor does it count toward the requirements for the major. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh day of classes, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study well in advance, preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise a syllabus and seek departmental approval.

In this capstone seminar, students explore current research topics in biology by writing a mini-review on a topic of their choice. In doing so, students analyze and integrate information from research articles that connect specific studies to broader biological questions and propose future work that refines and extends prior studies. Students communicate their insights in both oral and written formats. Assignments include short essays, student presentations, a general-audience piece and peer review. This course counts toward the upper-level lecture course requirement for the biology major. Senior standing and biology or molecular biology major.