Biological Sciences Major
Major Requirements
Degree Type: B.A. or B.S. Minimum Credits Required: 120
University Degree Requirements
For complete details on these and other university degree requirements, refer to the Degree and Graduation Requirements section in the University Catalog.
- Minimum of 120 semester credits (some programs may exceed this minimum).
- Complete the University General Education requirements.
- Minimum institutional GPA of 2.00 based on work taken at NDSU.
- Minimum of 30 credits in resident at NDSU.
- Minimum of 36 upper level credits (courses numbered 300 or higher).
- Students with transfer credit must meet the NDSU 30 credits in residence (#4). Of these 30 credits in residence, a minimum of 15 credits must be in courses numbered 300 or above, and 15 credits must be in the student's declared major curricula.
University General Education Requirements
A list of university approved general education courses along with the administrative policies governing the requirement and the categories is available here.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Category C: Communication | 12 | |
| Category R: Quantitative Reasoning | 3 | |
| Category S: Science and Technology | 10 | |
| Category A: Humanities and Fine Arts | 6 | |
| Category B: Social and Behavioral Sciences | 6 | |
| Category W: Wellness | 2 | |
| Category D: Cultural Diversity | ||
| Category G: Global Perspectives | ||
| Category L: Digital Literacy | ||
| Total Credits | 39 | |
Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Biological Sciences Core Requirements | ||
| BIOL 150 & 150L | General Biology I and General Biology I Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 151 & 151L | General Biology II and General Biology II Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM 121 & 121L | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory (May satisfy general education category s) | 4 |
| CHEM 122 & 122L | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory (May satisfy general education category S) | 4 |
| MATH 146 | Applied Calculus I (May satisfy general education category R) 2 | 4 |
| or MATH 165 | Calculus I | |
| STAT 330 | Introductory Statistics | 3 |
| BIOL 189 | Skills for Academic Success 1 | 1 |
| BIOL 270 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Antibiotic Discovery | 3 |
| or BIOL 271 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Diet and Exercise Physiology | |
| or BIOL 272 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Health and Wellness Decisions | |
| or BIOL 273 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Genomic Analysis | |
| or BIOL 274 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Biomedical Research Analysis | |
| or BIOL 275 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Insect Behavior | |
| BIOL 315 & 315L | Genetics and Genetics Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 359 | Evolution | 3 |
| Emphasis Area | ||
| Select one of the emphasis areas listed below to complete the major requirements | 29-59 | |
| Total Credits | 63-93 | |
- 1
BIOL 189 is only required for first-time, first-year students--A first-time, first-year student is defined as a student who has not yet completed a college course as a college student. Students that are not first-time, first-year students that either transfer into the university or change their major are not required to take BIOL 189.
- 2
Students interested in graduate programs that require 2 semesters of calculus should take MATH 165 and 166.
Standard emphasis
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 364 | General Ecology | 3 |
| or BIOL 370 | Cell Biology | |
| Select one from the following: | 3 or 8 | |
| Survey of Organic Chemistry ( or) | ||
| Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I Laboratory and Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry II Laboratory | ||
| Select one from the following: | 3 or 8 | |
| Fundamentals of Physics (or) | ||
| College Physics I and College Physics I Laboratory and College Physics II and College Physics II Laboratory | ||
| Select 15 credits of any 300-400 level course offered in the department | 15 | |
| General Ecology (if not used to meet the above requirement) | ||
| Cell Biology (if not used to meet the above requirement) | ||
| Global Seminar | ||
| Science Communication | ||
| Comparative Chordate Morphology | ||
| Plant Taxonomy | ||
| Vertebrate Histology | ||
| Invertebrate Zoology | ||
| Ichthyology | ||
| Herpetology | ||
| Ornithology | ||
| Mammalogy | ||
| Animal Physiology | ||
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Physiological Ecology | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Endocrinology | ||
| Hormones and Behavior | ||
| Freshwater Ecology and Limnology | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Wildlife Ecology and Management | ||
| Wildlife and Fisheries Management Techniques | ||
| Biomedical Genetics and Genomics | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Wetland Science | ||
| Developmental Biology | ||
| Cellular Mechanisms of Diseases | ||
| Total Credits | 24-34 | |
Biomedical sciences emphasis
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 370 | Cell Biology | 3 |
| CHEM 341 | Organic Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 341L | Organic Chemistry I Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 342 | Organic Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM 342L | Organic Chemistry II Laboratory | 1 |
| PHYS 211 | College Physics I | 3 |
| PHYS 211L | College Physics I Laboratory | 1 |
| PHYS 212 | College Physics II | 3 |
| PHYS 212L | College Physics II Laboratory | 1 |
| BIOC 460 | Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I | 3 |
| Select 12 credits from the following - at least 9 credits must have BIOL prefix | 12 | |
| Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II | ||
| Comparative Chordate Morphology | ||
| Vertebrate Histology | ||
| Animal Physiology | ||
| Endocrinology | ||
| Hormones and Behavior | ||
| Biomedical Genetics and Genomics | ||
| Developmental Biology | ||
| Cellular Mechanisms of Diseases | ||
| General Microbiology | ||
| Microbial Pathogenesis | ||
| Basic Immunology | ||
| BIOL Course | Choose one additional 3 credit 300-400 level BIOL course offered by the department | 3 |
| Total Credits | 37 | |
ecology and conservation Science emphasis
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 364 | General Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 475 | Conservation Biology | 3 |
| or BIOL 476 | Wildlife Ecology and Management | |
| Select one from the following: | 3 or 8 | |
| Survey of Organic Chemistry | ||
| Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I Laboratory and Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry II Laboratory | ||
| Select one from the following: | 3 or 8 | |
| Fundamentals of Physics | ||
| College Physics I and College Physics I Laboratory and College Physics II and College Physics II Laboratory | ||
| Select 9 credits from the following - at least 6 credits must have a BIOL prefix | 9 | |
| Plant Taxonomy | ||
| Invertebrate Zoology | ||
| Ichthyology | ||
| Herpetology | ||
| Ornithology | ||
| Mammalogy | ||
| Animal Physiology | ||
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Physiological Ecology | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Freshwater Ecology and Limnology | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Conservation Biology (if not used to meet the above requirement) | ||
| Wildlife Ecology and Management (if not used to meet the above requirement) | ||
| Wildlife and Fisheries Management Techniques | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Wetland Science | ||
| Range Plants | ||
| General Entomology | ||
| Insect Ecology | ||
| General Microbiology | ||
| Microbial Ecology | ||
| Microbial Pathogenesis | ||
| Fungal Biology | ||
| Weed Biology and Ecology | ||
| Soil Ecology | ||
| BIOL Course | Choose one additional 3 credit 300-400 level BIOL course offered by the department | 3 |
| Total Credits | 24-34 | |
environmental science emphasis
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 364 | General Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 480 | Ecotoxicology | 3 |
| GEOL 105 | Physical Geology | 3 |
| GEOL 105L | Physical Geology Lab | 1 |
| GEOL 106L | The Earth Through Time Lab | 1 |
| GEOL 106 | The Earth Through Time | 3 |
| PHYS 211L | College Physics I Laboratory | 1 |
| PHYS 211 | College Physics I | 3 |
| PHYS 212L | College Physics II Laboratory | 1 |
| PHYS 212 | College Physics II | 3 |
| SOIL 210 | Introduction to Soil Science | 3 |
| SOIL 410 | Soils and Land Use | 3 |
| Select one from the following: | 3 | |
| Principles of Plant Physiology | ||
| Plant Taxonomy | ||
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Range Plants | ||
| Select one of the following sequences: | 3 or 8 | |
| Survey of Organic Chemistry and Elements of Biochemistry (or) | ||
| Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I Laboratory and Organic Chemistry II and Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I | ||
| Choose one of the following: | 3 or 8 | |
| Analytical Chemistry I and Analytical Chemistry I Laboratory (or) | ||
| Geochemistry | ||
| BIOL Courses | Choose an additional 12 credits of 300 - 400 level BIOL courses offered by the department | 12 |
| Total Credits | 49-59 | |
Degree and Program Note:
- Botany and/or Zoology minors: Students completing a botany or zoology minor along with their biological sciences major must take a 300 or 400 level elective in the minor that is different from any 300 or 400 level electives taken for the major emphasis area. The only classes that students can take in common for the biological sciences major and the botany and/or zoology minor are the BIOL 150/150L, BIOL 151/151L, and BIOL 359 courses.
- Except for courses offered only with pass/fail grading, no course may be requested to take as Pass/Fail grading for this major.