Both the BA and BS degrees in Environmental Biology are designed to meet the needs of students expressing an interest in environmental biology and preparing them to be competitive as applicants to graduate programs. This degree is built around a biology core emphasizing the principles of ecology and evolution with an orientation towards natural resources, conservation, and other environmental concerns.

Student Learning Outcomes

Environmental Biology majors at Washburn University, upon completion of the program will be able to:

• Describe or distinguish major biological principles in cell biology, genetics, organismal biology, ecology, and evolution.
• Demonstrate the complex interrelationships amongst ecological and evolutionary forces and how they influence organisms, populations, and community function.
• Explain the scientific process and be able to discriminate between different approaches to science.
• Identify, recognize, and recall the basic biology of at least one major taxonomic group.
• Design experiments and analyze and interpret basic scientific data.
• Explain scientific information in oral and written presentations in a clear and professional manner.

Degree Requirements

Environmental Biology, BA

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Environmental Biology requires a minimum of 38 hours in Biology: the 23- hour Environmental Biology core and 15 additional credit hours of biology electives with a minimum of 10 hours from the Organismal Biology Elective list, with at least 1 course from the Field Electives Section. The BA degree in Environmental Biology requires a minimum of 120 credit hours to graduate. 

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Core
BI 102	General Cellular Biology	5
BI 103	General Organismal Biology	5
BI 310	Ecology	4
BI 333	General Genetics	4
BI 340	Evolutionary Biology	3
BI 390	Biology Seminar (Capstone Course)	1
BI 395	Research in Biology (Capstone Course)	1
Subtotal		23
Additional Courses
Biology Electives 1		15
Subtotal		15
Non-Biology Course
Select one of the following physics sequences:		10
PS 261 & PS 262	College Physics I and College Physics II
PS 281 & PS 282	General Physics I and General Physics II
CH 151 & CH 152	Fundamentals of Chemistry I and Fundamentals of Chemistry II	10
CH 340 & CH 342	Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Lab I	5
Subtotal		25
Additional Math Course
MA 140	Statistics	3-5
or MA 151	Calculus & Analytic Geometry I
Subtotal
Total Hours		66-68

¹

with a minimum of 10 hours from the Organismal Biology Elective list, with at least 1 course from Field Electives Section.

Environmental Biology, BS

The Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Environmental Biology requires a minimum of 44 hours in Biology: the 23-hour Environmental Biology core, 21 additional credit hours of biology electives with a minimum of 14 hours from the Organismal Biology Elective list, with at least 1 course from Field Electives Section, plus a 3 credit hour quantitative course. The BS degree also requires a 30-hour Concentration to be chosen from the Natural Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics & Statistics, Physics & Astronomy, or Computer Information Science). The BS degree in Environmental Biology requires a minimum of 120 credit hours to graduate.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Core
BI 102	General Cellular Biology	5
BI 103	General Organismal Biology	5
BI 310	Ecology	4
BI 333	General Genetics	4
BI 340	Evolutionary Biology	3
BI 390	Biology Seminar (Capstone Course)	1
BI 395	Research in Biology (Capstone Course)	1
Subtotal		23
Additional Courses
Biology Electives 1		21
Subtotal		21
Non-Biology Course
Select one of the following physics sequences:		10
PS 261 & PS 262	College Physics I and College Physics II
PS 281 & PS 282	General Physics I and General Physics II
CH 151 & CH 152	Fundamentals of Chemistry I and Fundamentals of Chemistry II	10
CH 340 & CH 342	Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Lab I	5
Subtotal		25
Quantitative Course
Select one of the following:		3
BI 314	Statistics for Biologists
MA 140	Statistics
Subtotal		3
Additional Math Course
MA 151	Calculus & Analytic Geometry I	5
Subtotal		5
Natural Sciences Concentration
Complete natural sciences concentration 2		5
Subtotal		5
Total Hours		82

¹

with a minimum of 14 hours from the Organismal Biology Elective list, with at least 1 course from the Field Electives Section.

²

Typically, this is satisfied by completing the non-Biology required correlate courses plus 5 additional credits of Chemistry coursework

Natural Sciences Concentration

The BS degree also requires a 30-hour Concentration to be chosen from the Natural Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics & Statistics, Physics & Astronomy, or Computer Information Science. This Natural Sciences Concentration must be in departments other than the major, and must have at least 20 hours in one department. Natural Sciences Concentrations for the BS degree are limited to these courses: CH 151 Fundamentals of Chemistry I or above, PS 261 College Physics I or above, MA 116 College Algebra or above, CM 111 Introduction to Structured Programming or above.

Elective Supportive Organismal Courses for the BA/BS degree in Environmental Biology:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
BI 301	General Microbiology	4
BI 303	Invertebrate Zoology	4
BI 305	Parasitology	4
BI 314	Statistics for Biologists	3
BI 322	Advanced General Botany	4
BI 328	Plant Anatomy and Physiology	3
BI 330	Animal Physiology	4
GG 300	Special Topics/Geography (Introduction to GIS)	3
Field Electives Section
BI 300	Field Biology	3
BI 302	Entomology	4
BI 315	Vertebrate Zoology	4
BI 324	Systematic Botany	3