Biology

Professor Sharon Stranford, department chair

The Biology Major provides students with extensive training in a range of biological subject areas, principles and practices. The curriculum gives students a broad background in biology while providing for specialization in a particular sub-discipline such as environmental biology, organismal biology, plant biology or cell and molecular biology. Students also gain extensive experience in the processes of logical problem-solving and experimental design that characterize scientific investigation. Most biology majors pursue graduate work in biological sciences or the health professions, but many enter careers in government, business, law, journalism, secondary school teaching or with environmental consulting firms, conservation organizations or biotechnology companies. The department also offers a minor.

The faculty of the Biology Department believes strongly in the value of learning not just what is known about biology, but also how biologists acquire that knowledge. Most courses include laboratories in which students gain first-hand experience in the processes of biological inquiry. Strong emphasis on learning to think scientifically is reflected in the department’s senior exercise, in which each student develops an original biological investigation of a problem of their choice. The faculty also encourages students to spend a summer and one or more semesters involved in biological research, either working with a faculty member on campus or through one of many available research internship programs or biological field station programs. More information on faculty research interests, summer research programs and potential funding sources is available on the department Web page at www.biology.pomona.edu. Students particularly interested in plant biology can take advantage of course and research offerings among all The Claremont Colleges, including the Botany Program at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden.

The department is housed in the Richard C. Seaver Biology Building, an innovative and energy-efficient building certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, and in the recently renovated Seaver South Building. Laboratories and greenhouses are equipped with advanced instrumentation for experimentation in all the major fields of biology, from molecular genetics and cell biology to physiology and ecology.

The Biology Department also has access to outstanding resources for studying ecology and conservation biology. The local Robert J. Bernard Biological Field Station, owned by The Claremont Colleges, includes several natural habitats that serve biology courses and student researchers. Likewise, the department takes advantage of the College-owned Herman Garner Ecological Preserve in Evey Canyon, Claremont, as well as the Mildred Pitt Ranch in Monterey County, for field research.

Interdisciplinary majors are available for students who want to combine the study of biology with another discipline. For example, the Molecular Biology Major combines chemical and biological approaches to the study of macromolecules, the Neuroscience Major combines approaches used in biology, psychology and other sciences, and the Public Policy Analysis-Biology major combines biological sciences with economics, politics, and policy analysis.

• Biology Major
    
• Biology Minor
    
• Biology Courses
    

Read more about our learning objectives:
www.pomona.edu/administration/academic-dean/learning-objectives