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 2007
Control of Phenotypic Plasticity of Smooth Muscle Cells by Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling through the Myocardin-related Transcription Factors, Giorgio Lagna, Manching M. Ku, Peter H. Nguyen, and Nicole A. Neuman
Genetic Analysis of a Novel Pathway for D-Xylose Metabolism in Caulobacter crescentus, Craig Stephens, Beat Christen, Thomas Fuchs, Vidyodhaya Sundaram, Kelly Watanabe, and Urs Jenal
Regulation of D-Xylose Metabolism in Caulobacter crescentus by a LacI-Type Repressor, Craig Stephens, Beat Christen, Kelly Watanabe, Thomas Fuchs, and Urs Jenal
Submissions from 2006
The Evolution of Organismal Complexity in Angiosperms as Measured by the Information Content of Taxonomic Descriptions, J. Gordon Burleigh, Justen B. Whittall, and Michael J. Sanderson
Relating the Cost of Spinning Silk to the Tendency to Share It for Three Embiids with Different Lifestyles (Order Embiidina: Clothodidae, Notoligotomidae, and Australembiidae), Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Shailesh Shenoy, and Vanessa Werner
A Survey of Nuclear Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer Substitution Rates Across Angiosperms: an Approximate Molecular Clock with Life History Effects, Kathleen M. Kay, Justen B. Whittall, and Scott A. Hodges
OAZ Regulates Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling through Smad6 Activation, Manching Ku, Shavonne Howard, Weihua Ni, and Giorgio Lagna
BMP-dependent activation of caspase-9 and caspase-8 mediates apoptosis in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, Giorgio Lagna, Peter H. Nguyen, Weihua Ni, and Akiko Hata
Bacterial Cell Biology: Managing Magnetosomes, Craig Stephens
Convergence, Constraint and the Role of Gene Expression During Adaptive Radiation: Floral Anthocyanins in Aquilegia, Justen B. Whittall, Claudia Voelckel, Daniel J. Kliebenstein, and Scott A. Hodges
Submissions from 2005
Adaptation to thermal stress in licheneating webspinners (Embioptera): habitat choice, domicile construction, and the potential role of heat shock proteins, Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Archana Tadimalla, and E. P. Dahlhoff
Submissions from 2004
Lichens, Sun, and Fire: A Search for an Embiid-Environment Connection in Australia (Order Embiidina: Australembiidae and Notoligotomidae), Janice Edgerly-Rooks and Edward Rooks
Transcriptional Profiling of Caulobacter crescentus during Growth on Complex and Minimal Media, Craig Stephens, Alison K. Hottes, Maliwan Meewan, Desiree Yang, Naomi Arana, Pedro Romero, and Harley H. McAdams.
Submissions from 2003
The evolution of warning signals as reliable indicators of prey defense, Thomas N. Sherratt and Christopher D. Beatty
Microbial Genomics: Tropical Treasure?, Craig Stephens
Submissions from 2002
Silk spinning behavior and domicile construction in webspinners, Janice Edgerly-Rooks, J. A. Davilla, and N. Schoenfeld
Use of the Caulobacter crescentus Genome Sequence To Develop a Method for Systematic Genetic Mapping, Craig Stephens, Lisandra West, and Desiree Yang
Submissions from 2000
OAZ Uses Distinct DNA- and Protein-Binding Zinc Fingers in Separate BMP-Smad and Olf Signaling Pathways, Akiko Hata, Joan Seoane, Giorgio Lagna, and Ermelinda Montalvo
Submissions from 1999
Course-based campus environmental research projects, Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Amy Shachter, and Wynn Calder
Negative regulation of axis formation and Wnt signaling in Xenopus embryos by the F-box/WD40 protein βTrCP, Giorgio Lagna, Francesca Carnevali, Marcella Marchioni, and Ali Hemmati-Brivanlou
A molecular basis for Smad specificity, Giorgio Lagna and Ali Hemmati-Brivanlou
Submissions from 1998
Smad6 inhibits BMP/Smad1 signaling by specifically competing with the Smad4 tumor suppressor, Akiko Hata, Giorgio Lagna, Joan Massagué, and Ali Hemmati-Brivanlou
A cell cycle-regulated adenine DNA methyltransferase from Caulobacter crescentus processively methylates GANTC sites on hemimethylated DNA, Craig Stephens, Anthony J. Berdis, Irene Lee, James K. Coward, Rachel Wright, Lucy Shapiro, and Stephen J. Benkovic
Submissions from 1997
Life Beneath Silk Walls: A Review of the Primitively Social Embiidina, Janice Edgerly-Rooks
Mutations increasing autoinhibition inactivate tumour suppressors Smad2 and Smad4, Akiko Hata, Roger S. Lo, David Wotton, and Giorgio Lagna
