The Biology Department offers a balanced curriculum. Students study life at all levels - from molecules to cells, from microorganisms to plants and animals, and from individuals to populations. With the help of faculty advisors, students choose courses that fulfill both the degree requirements and their individual goals. The biology curriculum comprises slightly more than twenty-five percent of the course work required for graduation.
Biology majors begin with a five quarter sequence of required biology courses two of them with laboratories. The first three quarters focus on ecology,evolution physiology & genetics. The last two quarters students have "hands on" opportunity to learn about these subjects in a laboratory environment. After completing the core courses, students choose seven or more upper-division courses from a long list of electives.
Courses include strong writing components, experiments with modern equipment, and the critical analysis of data and scientific literature. Laboratory sections enroll twenty-four or fewer students, promoting close interactions between students and their professors. Assignments often require students to present their findings utilizing styles of professional scientific meetings or journals. Such activities prepare students for their future careers by developing the critical thinking and language skills needed by scientists.
Submissions from 2020
Ocean Acidification Induces Subtle Shifts in Gene Expression and DNA Methylation in Mantle Tissue of the Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica), Alan M. Downey-Wall, Louise P. Cameron, Brett M. Ford, Elise M. McNally, Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Steven B. Roberts, Justin B. Ries, and Katie E. Lotterhos
Sustainable, Alginate-Based Sensor for Detection of Escherichia coli in Human Breast Milk, Nicholas Kikuchi, Margaret May, Matthew Zweber, Jerard Madamba, Craig M. Stephens, Unyoung Kim, and Maryam Mobed-Miremadi
Carryover effects of temperature and pCO2 across multiple Olympia oyster populations, Laura H. Spencer, Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Ryan Crim, Stuart Ryan, Micah J. Horwith, and Steven B. Roberts
Unexpected predicted length variation for the coding sequence of the sleep related gene, BHLHE41 in gorilla amidst strong purifying selection across mammals, Krishna Unadkat and Justen B. Whittall
Influence of ocean acidification on eastern (Crassostrea virginica) and Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) DNA methylation, Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Alan M. Downey-Wall, Kathleen E. Lotterhos, and Steven B. Roberts
General DNA Methylation Patterns and Environmentally-Induced Differential Methylation in the Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica), Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Alan M. Downey-Wall, Justin Ries, Isaac Westfield, Samuel J. White, Steven B. Roberts, and Kathleen E. Lotterhos
Submissions from 2019
Tissue-specific 3 prime-end adenylation of miR-125b mediates cell survival, Matthew T. Blahna, Jean-Charles Neel, Ge Yu, and Justin Louie
Stability of petal color polymorphism: the significance of anthocyanin accumulation in photosynthetic tissues, José Carlos del Valle, Cristina Alcalde-Eon, Mª Teresa Escribano-Bailón, Mª Luisa Buide, Justen B. Whittall, and Eduardo Narbona
Whole Plastome Sequencing Within Silene Section Psammophilae Reveals Mainland Hybridization and Divergence With the Balearic Island Populations, José Carlos del Valle, Inés Casimiro-Soriguer, Mᵃ Luisa Buide, Eduardo Narbona, and Justen B. Whittall
Sex-specific stress tolerance, proteolysis, and lifespan in the invertebrate Tigriopus californicus, Helen B. Foley, Patrick Y. Sun, Rocio Ramirez, Brandon K. So, Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Emily N. Nixon, Kelvin J.A. Davies, and Suzanne Edmands
Deregulation of Drosha in the pathogenesis of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, Akiko Hata and Giorgio Lagna
Pacific geoduck (Panopea generosa) resilience to natural pH variation, Laura H. Spencer, Micah Horwith, Alexander T. Lowe, Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Emma Timmins-Schiffman, Brook L. Nunn, and Steven B. Roberts
Larval Response to Parental Low pH Exposure in the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas, Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Laura H. Spencer, and Steven B. Roberts
Characterization of Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas proteomic response to natural environmental differences, Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Emma Timmins-Schiffman, Micah J. Horwith, Alexander T. Lowe, Brook Nunn, Brent Vadopalas, Laura H. Spencer, and Steven B. Roberts
Submissions from 2018
Phenotypic plasticity in light-induced flavonoids varies among tissues in Silene littorea (Caryophyllaceae), José Carlos del Valle, Mª Luisa Buide, Justen B. Whittall, and Eduardo Narbona
Digital photography provides a fast, reliable, and noninvasive method to estimate anthocyanin pigment concentration in reproductive and vegetative plant tissues, José C. del Valle, Antonio Gallardo-López, Mª Luisa Buide, Justen B. Whittall, and Eduardo Narbona
A Tree of Trees: Using Campus Tree Diversity to Integrate Molecular, Organismal, and Evolutionary Biology, Sophia Huang and Justen B. Whittall
Inactivating mutations in Drosha mediate vascular abnormalities similar to hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, Xuan Jiang, Whitney L. Wooderchak-Donahue, Jamie McDonald, and Prajakta Ghatpande
Resolving two Haploembia (Embioptera: Oligotomidae) cryptic species: molecular data confirms parthenogenetic females can be distinguished by their antisocial behavior, Erin T. Kelly, Justen B. Whittall, and Janice Edgerly-Rooks
Structural and wetting properties of nature's finest silks (order Embioptera), Grace Y. Stokes, Evangelea N. DiCicco, Trevor J. Moore, Vivian C. Cheng, Kira Y. Wheeler, John Soghigian, Richard P. Barber Jr., and Janice Edgerly-Rooks
Bone morphogenetic protein signaling is required for RAD51-mediated maintenance of genome integrity in vascular endothelial cells, Sanna Vattulainen-Collanus, Mark Southwood, Xu Dong Yang, and Stephen Moore
Submissions from 2017
Let-7 microRNA-dependent control of leukotriene signaling regulates the transition of hematopoietic niche in mice, Xuan Jiang, John S. Hawkins, Jerry Lee, and Carlos O. Lizama
Hyperactive locomotion in a Drosophila model is a functional readout for the synaptic abnormalities underlying fragile X syndrome, Risa Kashima, Patrick L. Redmond, Prajakta Ghatpande, and Sougata Roy
Genomic Analysis of Factors Associated with Low Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli Sequence Type 95 Strains, Craig M. Stephens, Sheila Adams-Sapper, Manraj Sekhon, James R. Johnson, and Lee W. Riley
Submissions from 2016
Transcriptome and Biochemical Analysis of a Flower Color Polymorphism in Silene littorea (Caryophyllaceae), Inés Casimiro-Soriguer, Eduardo Narbona, Mª L. Buide, José C. del Valle, and Justen B. Whittall
