About the Biology Department

Students come to Lawrence with varied intetests in the life sciences. A pre-medical or pre-dental student may want preparation an oceanographer or forester does not need. A botanist is more excited about some experimen-tal techniques than is a zoologist. Ecologists look at problems that a molecular biologist or a neurobiologist would find less appealing. One individual may wish to be specialized, another to be a generalist with a broader background. To accommodate this heterogeneity, the biology department has designed its program to provide as much flexibility as possible. The Lawrence Biology Department encourages an open ended, original, experimental approach to life science. Starting with the introductory principles of biology, students are expected to design, conduct, and defend independent research projects. Students receive a full range of education through courses, laboratory work, off-campus research projects, and the opportunity to coauthor papers with faculty for publication in professional joumals. In recent years, research topics have included molecular genetics of muscle development in nematode worms, aquatic food chain energetics, the influence of hormones on the development of mosses and liverworts, and age effects on insect reproduction. Students who wish to expand their studies may choose to participate in on-campus research or take courses in interdisciplinary areas of study. Off-campus opportunities also exist for this purpose. Students may take advantage of the Lawrence-sponsored Marine Biology Term or cooperative programs through the Associated Colleges of the Midwest such as the tropical ecology program in Costa Rica, field biology in Zimbabwe or Tanzania, and a research program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory near Knoxville, Tennessee. Additionally, a regular seminar series is sponsored each year in which recent advances in biological research are presented. This series of talks by faculty and by scientists from other universities exposes students to the latest discoveries in a wide range of biological disciplines.

INTERDISCIPLINARY AREAS OF STUDY Interdisciplinary areas of study that may be of interest to biology majors include biomedical ethics, neuroscience, and environmental studies. These programs allow students to cross departmental boundaries to address issues from several perspectives. Students still choose a major and fulfill its requirements, but those who also complete an interdisciplinary area may have it listed on their transcripts along with the declared major. Biomedical ethics, which combines interests in ethics, health care economics, and the biological sciences, primarily attracts students interested in pursuing careers in health care. The interdisciplinary area of Neuroscience unites biology, chemistry, and psychology in a quest for understanding the nervous system. Environmental studies gives students insight into the interplay between the natural and social sciences in dealing with the environment.

COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS Students who participate in a cooperative program study at Lawrence for two or three years and then transfer to any one of several professional schools for two to four more years, resulting in a bachelor of arts degree from Lawrence as well as a degree from the second institution. Among Lawrence's cooperative offerings are programs in allied health sciences in nursing and medical technology as well as forestry and environmental studies. Through the Allied Health Sciences program with Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, students earn a degree in nursing or medical technology. Several degree options in the program allow students to spend either two, three, or four years at Lawrence with an additional two years at Rush, resulting in two bachelor's degrees or one bachelor's and one master's degree. Lawrence's cooperative program in Forestry and Environmental Studies leads to the bachelor's degree from Lawrence and either a master of forestry or master of environmental management degree from Duke University. An undergraduate major in natural sciences, social sciences, or pre-engineering is excellent preparation for the Duke program, which focuses on forest resource production, resource ecology, resource policy and economics, water and air resources, and ecotoxicology.

OFF-CAMPUS SCIENCE STUDY An exciting range of off-campus science study opportunities are available to students at Lawrence. Some of the programs are unique to Lawrence, while others are conducted through a collaborative effort of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, a consortium of fourteen liberal arts colleges in the Midwest. One of Lawrence's most popular off-campus programs is the Marine Biology Term. Offered in the spring term every other year, the ten-week long program culminates with a trip to the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Sea where biology and geology students conduct two weeks of field research. Students choose their own independent research project involving some aspect of marine biology, animal behavior, or the geology of marine environments. Much of the research is conducted while scuba diving, with particular attention paid to coral reef environments. The ACM's Tropical Field Research program takes students to Costa Rica for four months of advanced work in the social and natural sciences. The country's extraordinary variety of plant and animal life and rich his-tory offers countless research opportunities for tropical biology and ecology students in particular, as well as those with interests in anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, geology, history, and political science. The program is conducted annually from early February to late May. The prestigious Oak Ridge National Laboratory near Knoxville, Tennessee, is home to the Oak Ridge Science Semester, offered annually from September to December. Students work primarily as members of research teams conducting investigations in biology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as other natural and social sciences, using the laboratory's first-rate facilities. Students supplement their research with an elective course selected from a wide variety of advanced topics.

RESEARCH, GRANTS, AND INTERNSHIPS At Lawrence, students bolster their education by work-ing with faculty on undergraduate research projects, exploring internships off campus, and competing for selective research grants. Science students regularly coauthor papers with faculty in professional journals and assist in cutting-edge research in the laboratories. In the summer faculty grants from sources such as the the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Science Foundation, Merck/AAAS and others allow students to explore science first hand. Dozens of students each year secure summer intemships at facilities including the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; the Boston University Marine Program in Woods Hole, Massachusetts; Washington University; the SPUR program at the Medical College of Wisconsin; the University of Chicago; and the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. Students also find support through grants offered by Lawrence. The Kasel summer internship grant allows students to explore local health care problems. The Mielke Family Foundation internships encourage work in biomedical ethics, health economics, and medical humanities. The Helen Daniels Bader Fund for Student Charitable Work compensates students for their summer volunteer efforts. In the past, students have volunteered in small towns and large cities in the United States, Cyprus, New Guinea, Turkey, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.