Overview of the Program:
The curriculum in biology offers an opportunity for students to
understand the structures and processes that characterize life and to
appreciate the tremendous diversity of living organisms. Course work is
balanced among three scales of biological resolution: cellular,
organismal, and ecological. An important component of the major is
independent research that enables students to become familiar with the
process of science by investigating a specific biological problem in the
laboratory or field.
Most courses are extensive rather than
intensive in content, providing students with considerable breadth in
the biological sciences as a whole. Such training may lead to more
specifically focused work in a graduate or professional program, to
employment in government or industry, or to teaching at the secondary or
college level. Biologists who are graduates of liberal arts colleges
often offer employers a broader, more flexible outlook in approaching
problems as well as strong communication skills.
Facilities, Habitats, and Programs:
The Department of Biology occupies the fourth floor of the
Haldeman-Thiessen Science Center. In addition to the comfortable
classrooms and well-equipped laboratories that this building provides,
the department has access to the facilities, habitats, and programs
described below.
LeSuer Nature Preserve. A
16.5-acre plot of land within a mile of campus provides new
opportunities for field research. Rolling hills bisected by a large
stream offer upland grassland, forest, riparian, and aquatic habitats
for study. Restoration of the entire area to pre-settlement conditions
(including several acres of native tall grass prairie) will provide
abundant opportunities for student research.
Hamilton Pond. This healthy,
freshwater environment was deeded to Monmouth College for use by the
Department of Biology as a teaching resource. Just one block from
campus, Hamilton Pond is a rich source of aquatic animals and plants for
use in laboratories. The pond also offers opportunities for field
research on behavior and ecology of amphibians and reptiles.
Spring Grove Prairie. Members of the biology faculty are trustees of
Spring Grove Cemetery, giving Monmouth students access to one of the
finest virgin prairie plots in Illinois. The plant community present in
the plot remains from pre-settlement times and offers unique
opportunities for research on prairie plants and soils and the fauna
that inhabit them.
Ecology Field Station. The
Monmouth College Ecological Field Station was established on the
backwaters of the Mississippi River near Keithsburg, Illinois, just 30
minutes from campus. This classroom-laboratory in the field lends
particular strength to the department’s instruction in field-oriented
courses. The station is equipped for year-round use and offers ready
access to the river and a variety of upland and riparian woodlands that
invite student and faculty research.
Required Core Courses for the
Biology Major (57–63 semester hours):
BIOL 150 Investigating Biological Concepts
BIOL 155 Introduction to Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity
BIOL 200 Cell Biology
BIOL 202 Genetics
BIOL 204 Human Anatomy and Physiology
BIOL 222 Introduction to Research I
BIOL 307 Ecology
BIOL 322 Introduction to Research II
BIOL 350 Science Seminar (Taken for two semesters, for a total of 2
semester hours)
BIOL 440** Research I
BIOL 450** Research II
CHEM 140 General Chemistry
CHEM 220/225* Introductory Analytical Chemistry/Introductory Analytical
Chemistry Laboratory
CHEM 228 Organic Chemistry I
MATH 151 Calculus I
MATH 207 Statistics for the Sciences
PHYS 130 Physics I
*Co-requisite courses (must be taken concurrently).
**BIOL 440 and 450 must be taken in sequential semesters and may be
replaced with an approved off-campus research experience.
Electives (A minimum of two courses from this list are required; offered
in alternate years):
BIOL 201 Field Botany
BIOL 203 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
BIOL 250 Special Topics
BIOL 300 Special Problems
BIOL 302 Microbiology
BIOL 308 Vertebrate Embryology
BIOL 315 Field Zoology
BIOL 320 Parasitology
BIOL 325 Advanced Physiology
BIOL 333 Evolution
BIOL 345 Animal Behavior
BIOL 354 Molecular Biology
BIOL 355 Molecular Biology Laboratory
BIOC 300 Bioinformatics
Required Courses for the Biology
Minor (24 semester hours):
BIOL 150 Investigating Biological Concepts
BIOL 155 Introduction to Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity
BIOL 200 Cell Biology
BIOL 202 Genetics
BIOL 204 Human Anatomy and Physiology
BIOL 307 Ecology
Teacher Certification:
Students seeking teacher certification must complete the Biology Major
cited above. This work also qualifies the candidate to teach general
science. Other requirements for certification are described on pages
52-59. EDUC 342 must be included with this work.
Equipment/Facilities
Departmental facilities include: a large, comfortable lecture hall; a
smaller, cozier classroom that seats 15-20, and a small room set up for
seminar or discussion-format classes. There are six labs, one of which is
reserved exclusively for seniors working on research projects. Seniors are
given their own keys to the lab so they can use it at any time.
Additionally, the department has a greenhouse, animal lab, and aquatics
lab, all of which are designed to maintain living organisms that can be
used in courses or in research projects.
The biology laboratories are
well-equipped. The department has recently acquired substantial equipment
to enhance the cell/molecular part of the program, including high-speed
and refrigerated centrifuges, electrophoresis chambers, and a thermal
cycler. Because of our size, students actually use these instruments,
something that is practically unheard of at larger universities.
Off-Campus Program
Numerous internships are available on a competitive basis. Monmouth
students have been involved in summer internships at such institutions as
the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin, the University of
Illinois, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Iowa, the
University of California-San Diego, as well as the United States
Department of Agriculture and the Nature Conservancy.
The program makes use of field trips that
are an integral part of the ecological courses. Occasional weekend
or overnight trips are scheduled to such places as Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore or Horicon National Wildlife Refuge.
Graduate School Opportunities
Some of the positions held by recent graduates of the biology program
include: medical doctor, doctor of dentistry, Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency staff, secondary school teacher and medical
technologist.
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