Required Courses: 24 Credits

*Note: Students must take at least one laboratory component with BIOL 300  or BIOL 311 , but may choose to take both.

• BIOL 151 - Gen Bio Cells and Genetics 4 Credit(s)
• BIOL 152 - Gen Bio Organisms and Ecology 4 Credit(s)
• BIOL 300 - Ecology 3-4 Credit(s) *
• BIOL 301 - Communicating in Biology 3 Credit(s)
• BIOL 307 - Cell Biology 3 Credit(s)
• BIOL 311 - Genetics 3-4 Credit(s) *
• BIOL 319 - Evolutionary Biology 3 Credit(s)

Elective Requirements: 17 Credits

Student taking only one of the 1-credit labs for BIOL 300  and BIOL 311  will need a minimum of 17 credits of electives. Students taking both labs will need a minimum of 16 credits of electives.

The Marine Biology Concentration is completed by taking summer courses through an affiliation with the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Marine Science. Potsdam students travel to the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Students pay in-state tuition and benefit from a reduced cost for room and board. Biology students who do not elect the concentration may also take any course offered at GCRL at a reduced rate and with preferred levels of acceptance. Courses include Marine Science I - Marine Biology (prerequisite for most other courses), Shark Biology, Marine Mammals, Marine Ecology, and Marine Invertebrate Zoology. Courses such as Coastal Ecology for Teachers may be of interest to students who are not biology majors.

For more information, please contact the Chair of the Biology Department or visit the GCRL website: https://www.usm.edu/ocean-science-engineering/summer-field-program.php.

Cognate Requirements: 27 Credits

All cognate courses must be completed with a 2.0/S or higher.

• MATH 151 - Calculus I 4 Credit(s)
• CHEM 105 - General Chemistry 1 1-3 Credit(s) (taken for 4 total credits: lecture & lab)
• CHEM 106 - General Chemistry 2 1-3 Credit(s) (taken for 4 total credits: lecture & lab)
• CHEM 341 - Organic Chemistry 1 1-3 Credit(s) (taken for 4 total credits: lecture & lab)

Note(s)

• Completion of both MATH 141  & MATH 142  may be substituted for MATH 151 .
• CHEM 342  is highly recommended for most biology majors.
• College Physics is preferred to University Physics for most majors. Please consult with your adviser.
• MATH 151  and MATH 152  are corequisites for the University Physics sequence.
• With approval of adviser and Department of Biology chair, no more than four credit hours from the combination of BIOL 475 , BIOL 485 , and biologically-based internships may be used as part of the departmental semester-hour requirement. This restriction is not intended to discourage students from taking any of these courses, but to ensure adequate diversity and breadth in pursuit of the biology major.
• Students graduating with a Biology major (B.S.) must complete the major requirements with at least a 2.0/S grade in each course.
• No student may enroll more than two times in any course offered by the Department of Biology without written permission of the instructor, the Department Chair and the Dean.
• Students may elect to take the laboratory component of only one of the two following required courses: BIOL 300  or BIOL 311 .
• At least six credit hours of the concentration courses must contain a laboratory (minimum of two courses).