The Biological Science Major
Offered by: Colleges of
Agriculture and Life Sciences,
College of Arts and Sciences
Overview
Many of the most exciting and controversial developments with the potential to benefit or improve society are in biological science. For example, consider how often the fields of biotechnology, medicine, ecology, and genetics are mentioned in the daily news. For students concerned about contemporary issues and who love the sciences, our Bachelor of Science Program in Biological Science offers the flexibility, rigor and comprehensiveness to prepare for a dynamic and challenging career. Veterinarian, marine biologist, physician, lab technician -- these are among the several hundred careers our graduates are leading. More than half use their degree as a professional stepping stone to medical or veterinary school.
What Will I Study?
BISC is the generic degree in biology. Flexibility and quality are its biggest attractions. As a cross-college integrated major, BISC draws its expertise of faculty from several departments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Biology department in the College of Arts and Sciences, and from other parts of the university, especially the College of Medicine. BISC students take two years of fundamental coursework: mathematics, chemistry, introductory biology, genetics, ecology and evolution, cell and molecular biology. During the Junior and Senior years, students study physics, statistics, advanced biology, and often do internships and undergraduate research working one-on-one with a professor in the student's subdiscipline of interest.
Students use their electives to develop a rich expertise within a personal subdiscipline of generic biology or concentrate in specialized areas such as plant biology, biochemistry, nutrition, microbiology. Others expand their solid foundation by adding a second major or a minor in a complimentary field selected from the offerings in the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences or Arts and Sciences.
Exciting Hands-on Learning
The wealth of faculty among the diverse biological sciences allows our students to seek personal attention engaging with a professor in undergraduate research in the student's chosen field of interest. We encourage our students to participate in the lab or field research of a UVM professor with no restriction as to college. UVM has extensive teaching and research facilities, e.g., state-of-the-art laboratories and greenhouses, protected Natural Areas (from alpine tundra to Lake Champlain), Proctor Maple Research Center, Horticultural Farm, Morgan Horse Farm and Miller Research Center. Students find opportunities in biotechnology splicing genes and working on HIV, others examine how one gene may affect a cancer patient's sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs. One student is currently studying how drug-eluting stents affect the potential for blood clots. Another biological science student worked on a project studying how pH affects phosphorus level in streams, while another, in a biomedical engineering lab, helped design a way to simulate skiing injuries (the data to be used to manufacture a safer ski boot).
Internships, a path for students to get experience in the working world while still in college, are of growing importance on a graduate's resume. In the BISC major, we seek out a broad range of opportunities to offer our students. When one of our students did his independent study in dentistry, he completed comprehensive training in dental assisting and visited offices of many area dentists. Another interned at the Baltimore Zoo.
Looking to the Future
On the Biological Science Program website you will find a list of careers that our graduates assume. Our graduates are invited to some of the very best medical, veterinary, dental, and graduate schools in the country. Consult our careers list again to see over 40 fields of advanced study for the M.Sci. or Ph.D. (e.g., Animal Science, Biochemistry, Genetics, Endocrinology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Plant Biology) which our graduates have pursued. Or see how our students use the Bachelor of Science degree in BISC as a terminal degree working in industry, government or non-profit agencies.
| Faculty and Area of Expertise | |
|---|---|
| College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | |
| David S. Barrington | Plant Systematics and Evolution Ph.D. Harvard University |
| John M. Burke | Nucleic Acid Biology Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| William W. Currier | Agricultural Biochemistry Ph.D. Purdue University |
| Sylvie Doublié | Crystallography Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| Greg Gilmartin | Nucleic Acid Biology Ph.D. University of Virginia |
| Mingruo Guo | Food Chemistry Ph.D. University College - Cork, Ireland |
| Wendy Sue Harper | Plant and Soil Science Ph.D. University of Vermont |
| Jeanne Harris | Plant Cell Biology Ph.D. University of California, San Francisco |
| Jim Hoffmann | Plant Ecology and Computational Biology Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison |
| Russell Hovey | Lactation Physiology Ph.D. Massey University, New Zealand |
| Douglas Johnson | Molecular Biology of Yeasts Ph.D. Purdue University |
| Rachel Johnson | Dietetics and Nutrition Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University |
| David Kerr | Gene Expression Ph.D. University of Saskatchewan |
| Paul Kindstedt | Dairy Food Chemistry Ph.D. Cornell University |
| Joann Knapp | Nutritional Physiology Ph.D. University of California, Davis |
| Tom Lewis | Microbial Transformations of Organic Pollutants Ph.D. Oregon State University |
| Jane Molofsky | Plant Population Ecology Ph.D. Duke University |
| Cathy Paris | Plant Systematics and Evolution Ph.D. University of Vermont |
| David Pederson | Nucleic Acid Biology Ph.D. University of Rochester |
| Stephen Pintauro | Information Technology in Nutrition and Food Sciences Ph.D. University of Rhode Island |
| Karen Plaut | Endocrinology Ph.D. Cornell University |
| Jane Ross | Dietetics and Obesity Ph.D. Oregon State University |
| Gerald Silverstein | Medical Microbiology Ph.D. Rutgers University |
| Mark Starrett | Plant and Soil Science Ph.D. North Carolina State University |
| Donald Stratton | Evolutionary Biology and Population Genetics Ph.D. SUNY Stone Brook |
| Brenda Tessman | Medical Technology M.S. University of Vermont |
| Mary Tierney | Plant Cell Biology Ph.D. Michigan State University |
| Robert Ullrich | Molecular Biology of Fungi Ph.D. Harvard University |
| Thomas Vogelmann | Plant Physiology Ph.D. Syracuse University |
| Susan Wallace | Nucleic Acid Biology Ph.D. Cornell University |
| Feng-Qi Zhao | Lactation Physiology Ph.D. University of Alberta, Edmonton - Alberta, Canada |
| College of Arts & Sciences | |
| Alison Brody | Evolution Ecology Ph.D. University of California, Davis |
| Rona Delay | Neurobiology Ph.D. Colorado State University |
| Charles Goodnight | Evolutionary Biology and Population Genetics Ph.D. University of Chicago |
| Nicholas Gotelli | Community Ecology and Population Ecology Ph.D. Florida State University |
| William Kilpatrick | Molecular Ecology Ph.D. North Texas State University |
| Miguel Martin-Caraballo | Developmental Biology Ph.D. University of Alberta, Edmonton - Alberta, Canada |
| Kentaro Murakami | Neurobiology Ph.D. Hokkaido University - Japan |
| Patrick O'Grady | Molecular Evolution Ph.D. University of Arizona |
| Joseph Schall | Ecology of Parasites Ph.D. University of Texas |
| Lori Stevens | Host-Parasite Ecology, Computational Biology Ph.D. University of Illinois, Chicago |
| Judith Van Houten | Neurobiology and Molecular Biology Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Jim Vigoreaux | Muscle Biology Oklahoma University |
Last modified September 10 2007 04:11 PM