Biology

Get Your Biology Degree

Prepare for a STEM-related career in healthcare, medicine, environmental stewardship, life sciences, and more. As a student in one of the largest programs on campus, you will be challenged to perform in both the classroom and laboratory. Learn from numerous full-time faculty with terminal degrees and active research projects.  

Biology Program Highlights

• Satisfy your pre-professional requirements and get strong training for medical, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary school, and more.  
• Work directly with advisors to strengthen your candidacy for graduate or professional programs.
• Design your own fruit fly experiment through our pilot Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) program.
• Engage in ongoing opportunities for grant funding, state recognition, and independent research.

More About Biology

Research

Our biology faculty maintain active research programs of their own and encourages students to apply for grants, conduct independent mentored research, and present their findings at state and regional meetings.

• Dr. Vida Mingo is part of the Genomics Education Partnership and uses bioinformatics to help create a national database of genetic sequences.
• Dr. Kirt Moody uses macroinvertebrates to examine ecological relationships and monitor environmental factors
• Dr. Marlee Marsh is interested in how environmental pressures impact the immune systems of fish, a common biomedical model, as well as basic biological research examining systems as diverse as spider webs to tomato fungi to fisheries forensics

Program Awards

• Two recent biology majors received awards for their presentations at the South Carolina Academy of Science meetings. These students were also invited to publish their work in the Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science.
• In the past 5 years, ten biology students secured grant funding to conduct independent research from the South Carolina Independent College and University Faculty-Student Research program.
• Two of the last three Columbia College Savory PURL (Program for Undergraduate Research and Learning) award winners were biology majors. These students received grant funding for independent research.
• Two recent biology majors were awarded the Dr. Selden K Smith Endowed Scholarship for Student Global Experience and traveled to the Central Philippines for ecology research and Masindi, Uganda for a medical mission trip, respectively. Clover also obtained funding from the SC Explorer’s Club Youth Grant.