Departmental Degree Requirements
All majors offered through the Department of Biology share as their foundation the biology core curriculum. Some individual courses within the biology core require a minimum grade of “C” as noted in the Course Descriptions chapter of this catalog.
Degree Requirements
The biology core curriculum consists of the following nine courses:
| BIO 203 | Biological Diversity (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 204 | Biological Unity (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 410 | Senior Seminar | 1 |
| BIO 300 | General Genetics (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 320 | Molecular Genetics (laboratory included) | 4 |
| CHE 152 | General Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHE 153L | General Chemistry I Laboratory | 1 |
| CHE 154 | General Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHE 155L | General Chemistry II Laboratory | 1 |
| MAT 260 | Calculus I | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 25 |
*BIO 440, 450 or 495 may be substituted if an oral presentation is made.
Requirements List
A subset of the biology core curriculum is referred to as the lower-core. All students must complete these core courses with a 2.0 (“C” level work) combined minimum GPA before they will be eligible to register for any of the upper-division BIO (numbered above 204) or MAR (numbered above 150) courses.
Additionally, some individual courses within the lower-core require a minimum grade of “C” as noted in the Course Descriptions chapter of this catalog. The lower-core curriculum consists of the following five courses:
| BIO 203 | Biological Diversity (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 204 | Biological Unity (laboratory included) | 4 |
| CHE 152 | General Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHE 153L | General Chemistry I Laboratory | 1 |
| CHE 154 | General Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHE 155L | General Chemistry II Laboratory | 1 |
| MAT 170 | Precalculus | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16-20 |
MAT 170: May be waived if student is placed directly into MAT 260 Calculus I. Students should investigate graduate admission requirements early in their UT program of study, because mathematics requirements vary widely (e.g., MAT 260 Calculus II and/or BIO 230/MAT 201 Statistics).
Category I Cellular Biology/Physiology Courses
| BIO 227 | Ecosystems and Ecophysiology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 300 | General Genetics (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 307 | Microbiology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 310 | Developmental Biology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 330 | General Physiology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 350 | Cell Biology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 360 | Immunology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 370 | Molecular Biology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 390 | Essentials of Electron Microscopy (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 320 | Molecular Genetics (laboratory included) | 4 |
Category II Organismal Biology Courses
| BIO 224 | Invertebrate Zoology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 225 | Vertebrate Zoology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 228 | Biology of Plants (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 250 | Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 317 | Parasitology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 340 | Ichthyology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| MAR 226 | Marine Zoology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| MAR 327 | Marine Botany (laboratory included) | 4 |
Category III Ecology/Evolution/Environmental Biology Courses
| BIO 212 | Ecology (laboratory included) | 4 |
| BIO 220 | Behavioral Biology | 4 |
| BIO 230 | Introduction to Experimental Design and Biostatistics | 4 |
| BIO 235/GEO 235 | Introduction to Geographic Information Systems | 3 |
| BIO 242 | Introduction to Environmental Science and Policy (lecture and discussion group included) | 4 |
| BIO 346 | Conservation Biology (lecture and discussion group included) | 4 |
| BIO 349 | Water, Wetlands and Wildlife | 4 |
| BIO 400 | Evolution | 4 |
| MAR 222 | Marine Ecology (laboratory included) | 4 |
All majors offered through the biology department share foundation classes offered in the above three categories: cellular/physiology, organismal, and ecology/evolution/environmental biology. These categories are used within majors and concentrations to achieve the learning outcomes within those specific programs.