About the Department

The Faculty of Biological Science offers an undergraduate degree program designed to give a breadth of knowledge that prepares graduates to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing science. Degree requirements are purposefully flexible to provide students with numerous career choices in biology, allied health fields, and professional or graduate schools. Major course work combined with studies in the university-wide Tulsa Curriculum give students the background required to excel in writing, reasoning, and achievement capabilities, and to adjust to the complexity of modern society and its component technologies. The department offers master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees in addition to bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees.

Prospective students in biological science should be aware of the department's many advantages. The program offers (1) a personalized advising system that is available to each freshman when enrollment at the university is completed, (2) small classes in lectures and laboratories, (3) easy access to all professors, and (4) high quality student peers. Furthermore, research opportunities allow undergraduate students to work directly in the laboratory with the professor of their choice. Departmental chapters of Beta Beta Beta (biology honorary society) and Alpha Epsilon Delta (national pre-medical honor society) provide student members with a variety of experiences enhancing both their education and career advancement. Weekly seminars feature speakers on diverse topics of biological interest.

Following a comprehensive set of core courses, undergraduate students may choose from a number of elective major courses including advanced genetics, microbiology, immunology, cellular physiology, comparative physiology, comparative vertebrate anatomy, vertebrate embryology, histology, plant anatomy, plant physiology, plant systematics, evolution, invertebrate zoology, parasitology, population ecology, community ecology, and senior research.

The strength of this program has resulted in a high acceptance rate of students who apply to graduate or professional schools. For more information about professional program advising (including medical, dental, optometry, and veterinary), please see premed advising page. In addition, our programs educate students in modern techniques, giving graduates the competitive edge required for positions in genetics laboratories, in vitro fertilization facilities, public health organizations, or scientific equipment companies.

Our graduates have entered advanced degree programs in medicine or research at Johns Hopkins University, Washington University, Michigan State University, University of Southern California, Baylor University, University of Colorado, and many other outstanding graduate and professional schools. In addition, our graduates have achieved considerable success in various areas of medicine, veterinary medicine, environmental science, genetic research, and other areas of biological science, both theoretical and applied.

First Place Award at the Oklahoma Academy of Science Meeting

Master’s Student Elizabeth Timpe (Bonett Lab) wins 1st Place presentation Award at the Oklahoma Academy of Science Meeting in October 2008.

In eastern North America the Ozark Plateau and the Appalachian Mountains are two extensive highland regions that contain a tremendous biodiversity. This diversity partly results from the fact that these highlands serve a habitat islands for species, such as salamanders, that require cool, moist environments.

 

Elizabeth’s Master’s thesis research entails sequencing DNA of long-tailed and cave salamanders from across their distribution in the Ozarks and Appalachians to determine the timing and direction of colonization of these highlands. Elizabeth discovered that populations of long-tailed salamanders, which are currently considered a distinct subspecies, have been in Ozarks for several million years, while cave salamanders have only arrived there very recently. 

 

This research will ultimately be used to help us understand the historical climatic factors that lead to the colonization and subsequent isolation of species across the highlands of eastern North America.