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Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology

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Biological SciencesUG

General

Requirements

Major Dependent Concentration(s)

Program Requirements

Students must fulfill the Oakland University General Education Requirements, the General College of Arts and Sciences Requirements, the College of Arts & Sciences Exploratory Requirement, and the Major Requirements. Additionally, students must complete a sufficient number of free elective courses to meet the overall credit requirement for their degree. A minimum of 120 credits is required, although some degree programs may require a higher total credit count.

As a general rule, no more than 8 credits of coursework used to satisfy one major, minor or concentration may be applied toward another, but exceptions to this rule may be allowed with the written approval of the program coordinators.

General Education Requirements

In order to graduate on-schedule without taking additional courses, it is highly recommended that students meet with an Undergraduate Academic Adviser concerning the selection of all of their general education courses.

Each candidate for an Oakland University baccalaureate will need to satisfactorily complete approved courses in each of the following areas: Foundation, Exploration, Integration, Writing, U.S. Diversity and Capstone. For details, refer to the General Education Requirements section of the catalog.

Requirements for the Major in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, B.S.

This curriculum is designed for students who wish to pursue careers in ecology, evolutionary biology, and environmental biology. Students will acquire key academic skills needed for jobs in these areas, with an emphasis on designing lab and field experiments, compiling and analyzing data, working in collaborative teams, and communicating ideas in written and oral formats. Flexible course requirements are designed to accommodate students seeking careers in various subdisciplines including zoology, botany, conservation biology, agricultural ecology, bioinformatics, ecosystem science, ecological sustainability, and natural resource management. Students are encouraged to consult regularly with academic advisors, faculty advisors, and Career Services to select courses best suited to their specific career goals.

A minimum of 60 combined credits in biology (BIO) or environmental science (ENV) is required, not including course, course, course, course, or course. course will count toward the 60 credit requirement.

1. Required Core Courses

2. Four Laboratory Courses Selected from the Following List, Including at Least 1 Each from the “Quantitative Lab Course” and “Field Lab Course” Categories

course and course may only count toward 1 lab requirement each, even if taken multiple times. Corresponding lecture and lab courses should normally be taken simultaneously. Some courses have labs incorporated into lecture credits whereas other labs are given separate credit from the corresponding lecture course.

Quantitative Lab Course

  • course Experimental Ecology Lab (1)

  • course Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics Laboratory (1)

Field Lab Course

  • course Field Botany (4)

  • course Field Biology (4)

  • course Tropical Field Ecology (3)

  • course Earth and Life Coevolution (2)

  • course Animal Behavior Laboratory (1)

  • course Applied Organic Farming (1)

  • course Permaculture Laboratory (1 OR 2)

Other Eligible Lab Courses

  • course Biology of the Cell Laboratory (1)

  • course Vertebrate Zoology (4)

  • course Marine Biology Laboratory (1)

  • course Genetics Laboratory (1)

  • course General Microbiology Laboratory (1)

  • course Physiology Laboratory (1)

  • course Medical Parasitology Laboratory (1)

  • course Independent Research (1 TO 4)

3. Three 4000-Level Lecture Courses Selected from the Following List, Including at Least 1 from the “Computational Biology” Category

Computational Biology

  • course Ecological Problem Solving (4)

  • course Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics (4)

Other Eligible 4000-Level Lecture Courses

  • course Conservation Biology (4)

  • course Medical Parasitology (4)

  • course Ecology of Streams and Rivers (4)

  • course Lake Ecology (4)

  • course Topics in Community and Population Biology (4)

  • course Food Systems Biology (4)

  • course Topics in Evolutionary Biology (4)

  • course Topics in Behavioral Biology (4)

  • course Advanced Genetics (4)

4. Systematics & Taxonomic Diversity. 1 Course Selected from the Following List

Courses used to satisfy this requirement may also be counted towards completion of other requirements (e.g., lab/field course or 4000-level lecture requirement).

5. Environmental Chemistry. 1 CHM or ENV Course Selected from the Following List

  • course Organic Chemistry I (4)

  • course Environmental Chemistry (3)

  • course Introduction to Environmental Studies (4)

  • course Principles of Geology (3)

  • course Energy and the Environment (4)

  • course Global Environmental Governance (4)

  • course Public and Environmental Health (3)

  • course Principles of Soil Science (4)

  • course Water Resources (3)

6. Additional BIO or ENV Elective Courses, at the 2000 Level or Above, as Needed to Meet the 60-Credit Minimum (not including course or course)

7. Chemistry Requirements

  • course General Chemistry I (4)

  • course General Chemistry II (4)

  • course General Chemistry Laboratory I (1)

  • course General Chemistry Laboratory II (1)

8. Physics Requirements

  • course General Physics I (4)
    or course Introductory Physics I (4) 

  • course General Physics Lab I (1)

9. Mathematics Requirements

  • course Precalculus (4)
    or course College Algebra (4) and course Trigonometry (3) 

    or course competency as determined by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics

10. Statistics Requirements

  • course Introduction to Statistical Concepts and Reasoning (4)
    or course Statistical Methods for Biology (4) 
    or course Applied Probability and Statistics (4) 

Additional Program Information

  • The College of Arts and Sciences Exploratory requirement is met within the major by completing the required Chemistry and Physics courses, which fulfill the Exploring Natural Sciences thematic set. ​

  • Relative to Biology BA/BS majors, EEEB students must complete one additional course outside the core sequence to complete the General Education requirement in Knowledge Applications. 

  • Students using this catalog to meet EEEB major requirements may also use any course subsequently approved as satisfying specific requirements and published in a later catalog.

Applicable Minors

All Minors are applicable to this major with the exception of the following Minor(s): Child Welfare, International Orientation for EGR/CS, and Sustainability Engineering.