Welcome to the Department of Biology

The 21 st century will be the age of biology, extending a century-long revolution in the biological sciences, with the future quality of human existence being strongly dependent on future advances in the life sciences. Key historic developments in agriculture, medicine, and technology have reduced human mortality rates, causing a human population explosion. This, in turn, has driven accelerating demands for basic and applied biological knowledge, particularly in cellular-and-molecular-biology with implications for medicine, agriculture, genetic engineering, and forensic science; and in evolution-and-ecology with implications for the conservation of natural resources and restoration of ecosystems severely disturbed by human activities.

Demand for undergraduate programs in biology has been increasing and will continue to do so. Demand for programs in biology will accelerate because of a vital need for graduates with focus and training in the biological sciences, particularly in the core areas related to medicine, cellular and molecular biology, and evolution and ecology.

FACILITIES

The Department of Biology is housed in Starcher Hall, completed in 1981. In addition to classrooms and specialized teaching laboratories, the building houses an herbarium, three greenhouses, environmental chambers, animal rooms for terrestrial and aquatic organisms, observation rooms, vertebrate and invertebrate museums, a darkroom, and isotope and tissue culture facilities. The Department also maintains two natural areas (virgin prairie and wooded stream valley) for teaching and research.


FACULTY
J. Carmichael, R. Crawford, D. Crossley, D. Darland , A. Fivizzani (Emeritus), B. Goodwin, S. Kelsch, J. La Duke, P. Meberg, R. Newman, M. Potvin (Dean of Arts and Sciences), S. Pyle, T. Rhen, I. Schlosser (Chair), R. Simmons, W. Sheridan, R. Sweitzer, V. Tkach, and J. Vaughan.

Department Office: 701-777-2621