Honors
Candidates for Honors in biology enroll as seniors in BIOL 501 and 502, carry out a research project in consultation with a faculty committee, write and defend a thesis based on completed work, and give a required research seminar. Students interested in this program should initiate a discussion of research possibilities with any member of the staff during the junior year. Students are not accepted formally into the Honors Program until their proposed research is reviewed by the department at the beginning of their first semester of research.
Off-Campus or Summer Study
The department offers limited scholarships for summer course work at approved field (inland and marine) stations in the United States. Applications for these scholarships are invited early in the Spring Semester; awards are made in May. In general, students planning off-campus study are advised to consult first with their advisor, and then the Chairman to determine acceptability of courses to the major.
Transfer of Credit
Credits in biology earned elsewhere may be applied to the Oberlin biology major with the approval of the department chair, as long as 14 of the 27 hour minimum in biology, including nine hours of advanced course work (defined above, under ‘major’), are completed at Oberlin.
Winter Term
Among the topics for Winter Term projects that members of the Biology Department are willing to sponsor are the following:
Mr. Allen: projects relying upon genetic, molecular biological, and biophysical techniques to address cell physiological questions. Readings in the physiology of muscle and motile cells. Instruction and readings in Old Icelandic and Old English literature.
Ms. Bennett: intensive science review; pre-medical internship.
Mr. Braford: laboratory research in comparative neuroanatomy for students who have had Biology 320; neurobiology; evolution; systematics.
Ms. Cruz: projects involving comparative embryology, developmental biology, marsupial biology. Readings in the history of biology, philosophy of science, evolution.
Ms. Garvin: projects and readings in parasitology, entomology, ornithology, epidemiology, and ecology.
Ms. Laskowski: projects involving plant physiology, plant molecular biology.
Mr.Laushman: projects involving conservation biology, population genetics, and aquatic vascular plants.
Ms. McCormick: projects on the evolution of vertebrate auditory and lateral line systems; topics on the evolution of vertebrate structure.
Ms. Peters: laboratory studies of a biological rhythm in the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, using a variety of genetic, molecular biology, and genomic techniques. Readings in genetics, molecular biology and genomics. Ms. Romberg: projects involving the biochemistry and kinetics of bacterial cell division proteins and computational modeling of protein polymerization. Ms. Salter: projects involving immunology, virology, or cancer; health career internships.
Mr. Tarvin: projects and readings in vertebrate evolutionary and behavioral ecology, ornithology, avian blood parasites, molecular genetic tools for evolutionary analyses and readings in human behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology.
Ms. Thornton: projects involving neuroendocrinology and behavioral neuroendocrinology.
Preparation for Post-Graduate Education
Medical School, Dental and Veterinary Medicine. Most medical, dental, and veterinary schools require:
- One year of General Biology with laboratory.
- Two years of Chemistry with laboratory.
- One year of Mathematics.
- One year of Physics with laboratory.
- One year of English.
Students planning careers in medicine should consult the Health Career Advisors, the Office of Career Services, and references in the Science Library for details.
Graduate Schools. Most graduate schools in biology expect a major in the biological sciences to include:
- Two years of Chemistry with laboratory.
- One year of Physics with laboratory.
- College-level Mathematics (Calculus and Statistics).
- Courses in Computer Science.
Certain deficiencies in course work may be made up in graduate school but generally not for graduate credit. Students planning to pursue an advanced degree should consult individual admission requirements of the schools and graduate departments in which they are interested. The qualifying examination for most graduate schools is the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) which consists of two parts, the General Examination and an Advanced component in biology. The majority of graduate schools require the General Examination for admission but there is variation with respect to the Advanced requirement. Students are strongly urged to consult with members of the Biology Department in preparing for graduate work.
Pre-Requisites for Biology Courses
Each course in the Biology department which requires a pre-requisite will indicate the specific course that is required for admission to the course. A minimum grade of C-, CR or P is required in the pre-requisite.
A student may also consult with the instructor if special preparation for a course might be considered as a substitute for the pre-requisite.
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