Department of Biology
Faculty: Professor Beach, Chair; Professors Mason, Meers, Waggett, Williams; Associate Professors Dobrinski, Fasick, Freundt, Grim, Kucera, Mahadevan, L. McRae, M. McRae, Middlebrooks; Assistant Professors Durkin, Logsdon, Osovitz, Ragni, Santamaria, Slattery; Associate Teaching Professor Wilson; Assistant Teaching Professors Brace, Rozar, Taylor; Lecturer Bellanceau; Lab Coordinators/Instructors Gore, LaFond, Rubelmann and Marine Science Center Coordinator/Instructor Ambrosio.
It is the Mission of the Department of Biology to inspire and empower sustainable curiosity, inquiry, and discovery in the natural world. We envision a community of collaborative, scientifically literate, forward-thinking individuals who are empowered in the pursuit of inquiry and the dissemination of knowledge, improving our understanding of the natural world. We value:
1) Critical scientific thinking in the pursuit of knowledge through experiential learning at UT and within community partnerships
2) Scholarship within the scientific community and across disciplines through high quality research, dissemination of knowledge, and pedagogical innovation.
3) Professional development to maintain currency in pedagogical and scholarly research advances.
4) Mentoring students on their journey towards academic excellence, career goals, and personal achievements.
5) Communication and collaboration towards the goal of creating an equitable, inclusive, and diverse academic community.
6) Strategic planning that engages the UT community in meaningful interactions.
The B.S. in biology, B.A. in biology, B.S. in marine science-biology majors all seek to educate students:
1. in the process and methodology of science
2. in the conceptual and applied knowledge necessary to address problems at a wide range of levels of biological organization and,
3. to be responsible global citizens able to make informed decisions about complex issues
These three broad-based goals are defined in terms of the following seven specific cognitive and conceptual sub-goals.
Cognitive subgoals:
i. Students will be exposed to information essential to a broad understanding of biological science including:
1. The unity and diversity of all living things
2. The structural and functional relationships of living systems
3. Energetics, synthesis, and metabolic control
4. Growth, development, and response to stimuli
5. The transmission of hereditary characteristics
6. Interactions of organisms with their environment
7. Absorption/movement/transport
8. Evolution and population dynamics
ii. Through active participation in experiential learning, students will develop and demonstrate competence in the use of scientific instrumentation, data collection, and experimental design.
iii. Students will develop the ability to communicate effectively through oral and written methods. Preparation of graded written reports and papers using the scientific format is required as part of science courses. Senior seminar and other departmental seminars provide a venue for oral presentation of various topics.
Conceptual Sub-goals:
i. Students will become scientifically literate citizens who understand the basic principles underlying modern science, technology, health, and environmental issues and their relationship to society.
ii. Students will develop the ability, motivation, and initiative to study and learn independently.
iii. Students will develop an appreciation for the inevitable need to integrate new scientific information into the conceptual framework of understanding.
iv. Students will be prepared to identify valid scientific information, to view critically unscientific information and to pursue reliable sources in making reasoned decisions and ethical choices.
Degree Requirements
In addition to the requirements of the Spartan Studies, all majors offered through the Department of Biology require that students complete the following:
1) Biology Core Curriculum,
2) Upper-Division Biology courses and
3) Collateral and prerequisite courses
Specific details of these requirements for each major and concentration are found by following the links from this page