Biology

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- 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.

Major

The biology major consists of a minimum of 7 life science courses in categories A through C  below and 4 additional cognate courses in category D.  A minimum of two 200- or 300-level Biology lecture courses exclusive of the core must be completed at Oberlin. No more than two courses of advanced coursework may be transfer credits. Courses in which a student has earned a letter grade lower than a C- may not be used to fulfill the requirements of the Biology major. Students must complete at least five lab experiences, three from the required core courses (category A), and two from upper-level courses (categories B and C).

Requirements for the Biology Major

Minor

First-Year Seminars

• FYSP 116 - Natural History of the Vermilion River Watershed
• FYSP 022 - What’s For Dinner? The science of healthy eating

Non-major Coursework

• BIOL 103 - Environmental Biology
• BIOL 060 - Innovation and Design

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, fall of their senior year.

Off-Campus or Summer Study

Students planning off-campus study are advised to consult first with their advisor and then with the Chair to determine acceptability of courses to the major. 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.

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 at least half of the minimum courses in biology (full courses or equivalent), including two full courses or equivalent of advanced course work (defined as 200- or 300- level courses, exclusive of 213 and 200, offered by the Biology Department) 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. Ms. Cullen: projects in molecular biology and career exploration.  Ms. Cruz: projects involving comparative embryology, developmental biology, marsupial biology. Readings in the history of biology, philosophy of science, evolution, biotechnology. Ms. Garvin: projects and readings in parasitology, entomology, ornithology, epidemiology, and ecology. Mr. Goldman: projects related to the early evolution of proteins and functional networks in ancient life. Ms. Laskowski: projects involving plant physiology, plant molecular biology. Mr.Laushman: projects involving conservation biology, population genetics, and aquatic vascular plants. Mr. Moore: lab and field studies in plant systematics and evolution. Ms. Peters: laboratory studies of a biological rhythm in the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, and neuropeptides using a variety of genetic, molecular biology, and genomic techniques. Readings in clinical and molecular genetics, health careers, molecular biology and genomics. Mr. Price: projects involving the interaction of baceterial pathogens with mammalian and protozoan host cells.  Ms. Roles: projects or readings involving molecular ecology, population and quantitative genetics, evolutionary biology, and conservation/invasion biology. Ms. Romberg: projects involving the biochemistry and kinetics of bacterial cell division proteins and computational modeling of protein polymerization; shadowing physical or occupational therapists at a hospital in Cleveland; independent projects on food science. Mr. Tarvin: projects and readings in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology, including human evolutionary biology.

Preparation for Post-Graduate Education

Medical School, Dental and Veterinary Medicine.  Please see the sub-section “Pre-medical” in the section “The BA degree and Pre-Professional Development.” 

Graduate Schools. Students planning to pursue an advanced degree should consult individual admission requirements of the schools and graduate departments in which they are interested.  For example some graduate schools in biology expect a major in the biological sciences to include:

1. Two years of Chemistry with laboratory.
2. One year of Physics with laboratory.
3. College-level Mathematics (Calculus and Statistics).
4. Courses in Computer Science.

Certain deficiencies in course work may be made up in graduate school but generally not for graduate credit. 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.