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
| 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 I: Intercultural Knowledge and Competence | ||
| 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 | 4 |
| CHEM 122 & 122L | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory | 4 |
| MATH 146 | Applied Calculus I 1 | 4 |
| or MATH 165 | Calculus I | |
| STAT 330 | Introductory Statistics | 3 |
| BIOL 189 | Skills for Academic Success 2 | 1 |
| BIOL 270 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Antibiotic Discovery | 3 |
| or BIOL 271 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Field Biology and Experimental Ecology | |
| or BIOL 272 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Health and Wellness Decisions | |
| or BIOL 273 | Undergraduate Research Experience: Genomic 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 | 30-59 | |
| Total Credits | 64-93 | |
- 1
Students interested in graduate programs that require 2 semesters of calculus should take MATH 165 and 166.
- 2
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.
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 21 credits from the the following elective list: | 21 | |
| Human Anatomy and Physiology I and Human Anatomy and Physiology I Laboratory 3 | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology II and Human Anatomy and Physiology II Laboratory 3 | ||
| General Ecology (if not taken for the above requirement) | ||
| Cell Biology (if not taken for the above requirement) | ||
BIOL 379 | Study Abroad | |
| 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 | ||
BIOL 466 | ||
| Freshwater Ecology and Limnology | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Undergraduate Research Experience: Biomedical Research Analysis | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Wildlife Ecology and Management | ||
| Wildlife and Fisheries Management Techniques | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Wetland Science | ||
| Developmental Biology | ||
| Cellular Mechanisms of Diseases | ||
| Cancer Biology | ||
| Evolutionary Medicine and Genomics | ||
BIOL 493 | Undergraduate Research (3 credits with the same advisor) | |
| Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I | ||
| General Microbiology | ||
| Total Credits | 30-40 | |
- 3
Standard Emphasis - Students can only take one BIOL 22X/L pair in this section, not both - BIOL 220 & BIOL 220L or BIOL 221 & BIOL 221L.
Biomedical Sciences Emphasis
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 370 | Cell Biology | 3 |
| MICR 350 | General Microbiology | 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 15 credits from the following - at least 12 credits must have BIOL prefix | 15 | |
| Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology I and Human Anatomy and Physiology I Laboratory 4 | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology II and Human Anatomy and Physiology II Laboratory 4 | ||
| Comparative Chordate Morphology | ||
| Vertebrate Histology | ||
| Animal Physiology | ||
| Endocrinology | ||
| Hormones and Behavior | ||
BIOL 466 | ||
| Undergraduate Research Experience: Biomedical Research Analysis | ||
| Developmental Biology | ||
| Cellular Mechanisms of Diseases | ||
| Cancer Biology | ||
| Evolutionary Medicine and Genomics | ||
| Microbial Pathogenesis | ||
| Basic Immunology | ||
| Choose an additional 3 credits from the list below: | 3 | |
BIOL Elective | 300-400 level BIOL prefix course | |
BIOL 493 | Undergraduate Research (3 credits with the same advisor) | |
| Animal Cell Culture Techniques | ||
| Microbial Isolation and PCR Applications | ||
| Microscopy and Imaging Techniques | ||
| CRISPR Gene Editing | ||
| Immunological Assays | ||
| Flow Cytometry | ||
| Quality Control in Biotechnology | ||
| Sequencing | ||
| Total Credits | 43 | |
- 4
Biomedical Science Emphasis - Students can only take one BIOL 22X/L pair in this section, not both - BIOL 220 & BIOL 220L or BIOL 221 & BIOL 221L.
Ecology and Conservation Science Emphasis
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 364 | General Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 475 | Conservation Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 476 | Wildlife Ecology and Management | 3 |
| CHEM 240 | Survey of Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| or CHEM 341 | Organic Chemistry I | |
| PHYS 120 | Fundamentals of Physics | 3 |
| or PHYS 211 | College Physics I | |
| Plant Biology/Botany: Select 9 credits from the following: | 9 | |
| Plant Taxonomy | ||
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Structure and Diversity of Plants and Fungi | ||
| Wetland Science | ||
| Range Plants | ||
| Weed Biology and Ecology | ||
| Animal Biology/Zoology: Select 3 credits from the following: | 3 | |
| Ichthyology | ||
| Herpetology | ||
| Ornithology | ||
| Mammalogy | ||
| Ecology: Select 9 credits from the following: | 9 | |
| Invertebrate Zoology | ||
| Animal Physiology | ||
| Physiological Ecology | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Freshwater Ecology and Limnology | ||
| Wildlife and Fisheries Management Techniques | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| General Entomology | ||
| Insect Ecology | ||
| Microbial Ecology | ||
| Microbial Pathogenesis | ||
| Fungal Biology | ||
SOIL 351 | ||
| Total Credits | 36 | |
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 from the following: | 3 or 8 | |
| Analytical Chemistry I and Analytical Chemistry I Laboratory (or) | ||
| Geochemistry | ||
| BIOL Electives | Choose an additional 12 credits of 300-400 level BIOL prefix 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.