Biology Department

The Department consists of eight full time faculty - six doctoral recipients (Ph.D.) and two MS level instructors. Adjunct faculty include Ph.D. and MS instructors who are carefully selected to fill specific teaching niches.

We occupy modern facilities in a setting where science is rapidly expanding. Facilities housed in the department that enhance teaching and research include multi-user molecular and microbiological laboratories, cutting edge anatomy and physiology classrooms, tissue culture facilities, a tropical greenhouse, an on-campus ecosystem restoration and numerous links to other campus and local resources. For example, across campus is the Northwest Center for Medical Education, a regional campus of the Indiana University School of Medicine, where many of our faculty have adjunct appointments. This link offers opportunities with other life scientists for joint ventures focused on medicine. Also, just up the road from campus, resources such as the Indiana Dunes National Park and Lake Michigan provide opportunities to study the interactions between rare ecosystems like black oak savanna and human endeavors like steel production.

We firmly believe that the education of an undergraduate is enhanced by experience in the “discovery side” of biology. Thus, most courses require laboratory experience and undergraduates are encouraged to participate in research with faculty mentors in projects ranging from understanding the links between hypertension and kidney disease to autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis; and from the restoration of wetlands destroyed during industrialization to the ongoing impacts of air pollution on biodiversity (see below for specific details).

While we have a firm foundation in traditional life sciences, we are also engaged in several emerging interdisciplinary areas. Faculty participate in research and academic programs with colleagues in other departments on the IU Northwest campus, other major institutions in northwest Indiana, as well as those throughout the Midwest such as Northwestern University, the Field Museum of Natural History and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Our interdisciplinary connections with internal and external collaborators are expanding with the development of new programs at the IU Northwest campus. The Department expects to take a leadership role in the development of new undergraduate and graduate programs in biotechnology and environmental sciences that promise to play critical roles in work force development required for the expansion of the life sciences in Northwest Indiana.

Degrees and Course Requirements

The Biology Department offers a Bachelor of Science, a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Minor in Biology.  The course requirements are structured to allow students to concentrate their study into one of three areas:

• The Pre-professional and Bio-Medical Science track is designed to prepare students for entry to medical school, dental school, pharmacy and other health care post-graduate education. 
• The Biotechnology and Molecular Biology track emphasizes skills that will prepare students for research careers in the pharmaceutical, forensic, and biomedical sciences.
• The Environmental and Organismal Biology track focuses on coursework to prepare students for careers in the study, conservation and utilization of all forms of life and their environments.  

Each of the tracks will provide students with the required background to succeed in professional studies (e.g. medical school), graduate studies leading to masters and doctoral degrees and careers immediately after completion of their undergraduate studies.

• Major Requirements:
  • Introductory Biology I, II (BIOL L101, BIOL L102),
  • Molecular Biology (BIOL L211)
  • Genetics (BIOL L311)
• Additional credits (25 for B.S., 18 for B.A.) of upper level (300-400) biology courses must be completed with a minimum of one course from each of the following areas:
  • Molecular and Cell (e.g., BIOL L312, M310, L321, L323)
  • Genetics, Developmental, Evolution (e.g., BIOL L318, Z318, L331, Z466)
  • Ecology, Physiology, and Organismal (e.g., B355, B351, Z406, L473)
• For the B.S., students must also complete a Senior Seminar (BIOL L403) and courses in Chemistry (the Principles, Experimental, and Organic series), Physics (Calculus or non-Calculus-based), Math (Calculus, Statistics), and Computer Science.