Biology, Organismal Biology and Ecology Concentration (Ecology), B.S.

Department of Biology
615-898-2847
Dennis Mullen, program coordinator
Dennis.Mullen@mtsu.edu

The major in Biology requires 42 semester hours including a biology core for all concentrations of 29 semester hours:

BIOL 1110 /BIOL 1111 and BIOL 1120 /BIOL 1121 ;
BIOL 2230 /BIOL 2231 , BIOL 3250 /BIOL 3251 , BIOL 3400 /BIOL 3401 , BIOL 3500 , BIOL 4200 ;
BIOL 4110 /BIOL 4111 (Zoology Track) or BIOL 4210 /BIOL 4211 or BIOL 4500 (Botany Track).

Other requirements include

MATH 1910 and one of the following: BIOL 4350 /BIOL 4351 or MATH 2050 or MATH 1920 ;
12 hours of chemistry (CHEM 1110 /CHEM 1111 , CHEM 1120 /CHEM 1121 , and CHEM 2030 /CHEM 2031 or CHEM 3010 /CHEM 3011 ).

All Biology majors are assigned a faculty advisor through the Biology Department Office. The student is responsible for seeking the assistance of the advisor. This catalog is not intended to provide the detail necessary for self-advising.

Every Biology major is required to declare a concentration area. Each area requires semester hours to be selected from a set of designated courses.

Students may select from the Organismal Biology and Ecology concentration courses below or may choose from the botany, zoology, ecology, or general biology (satisfies Teacher Education requirements) tracks.

Concentration Requirements

Minimum of 10 hours selected from

BIOL 3020 - Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 3021 - Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 3030 - Non-Flowering Plants 4 credit hours
BIOL 3040 - Entomology 3 credit hours
BIOL 3050 - Parasitology 3 credit hours AND
BIOL 3051 - Parasitology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4060 - Dendrology 3 credit hours
BIOL 4080 - Mycology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4081 - Mycology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4120 - Flowering Plants 4 credit hours
BIOL 4140 - Invertebrate Zoology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4141 - Invertebrate Zoology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4180 - Vertebrate Zoology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4181 - Vertebrate Zoology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4220 - Ichthyology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4221 - Ichthyology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4250 - Limnology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4251 - Limnology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4390 - Ethology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4391 - Ethology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4520 - Plant Anatomy and Development 4 credit hours
BIOL 4570 - Principles of Toxicology 3 credit hours AND
BIOL 4571 - Principles of Toxicology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4580 - Marine Biology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4581 - Marine Biology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4590 - Principles of Environmental Toxicology 4 credit hours
BIOL 4700 - Principles of Plant-Animal Interactions 3 credit hours AND
BIOL 4701 - Principles of Plant-Animal Interaction Lab 0 credit hours

Ecology Track

Select at least two courses from the following:

BIOL 4250 - Limnology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4251 - Limnology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4580 - Marine Biology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4581 - Marine Biology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4700 - Principles of Plant-Animal Interactions 3 credit hours AND
BIOL 4701 - Principles of Plant-Animal Interaction Lab 0 credit hours
and one from among the concentration courses (above) if only two are selected from the list of three

Curriculum: Biology, Organismal Biology and Ecology (Ecology)

Curricular listings include General Education requirements in Communication, History, Humanities, and/or Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social/Behavioral Sciences categories.

Freshman

ENGL 1010 - Expository Writing 3 credit hours (Comm)
ENGL 1020 - Research and Argumentative Writing 3 credit hours (Comm)
COMM 2200 - Fundamentals of Communication 3 credit hours (Comm)
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours (Math)
BIOL 1110 - General Biology 4 credit hours (Nat Sci) AND
BIOL 1111 - General Biology Lab 0 credit hours (Nat Sci)
BIOL 1120 - General Biology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1121 - General Biology Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry I 4 credit hours (Nat Sci) AND
CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours (Nat Sci)
CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours

Subtotal: 29 Hours

Sophomore

ENGL 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture 3 credit hours (Hum/FA) OR
ENGL 2030 - The Experience of Literature 3 credit hours (Hum/FA) OR
HUM 2610 - Foreign Literature in Translation 3 credit hours (Hum/FA)
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 3 credit hours
Minor course 3 credit hours
Upper-division elective 3 credit hours
BIOL 2230 - Microbiology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 2231 - Microbiology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 3250 - Genetics 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 3251 - Genetics Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 3010 - Organic Chemistry I 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 3011 - Organic Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours
OR
CHEM 2030 - Elements of Organic Chemistry 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 2031 - Elements of Organic Chemistry Lab 0 credit hours
Choose 6 hours from:
HIST 2010 - Survey of United States History I 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2020 - Survey of United States History II 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2030 - Tennessee History 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 30 Hours

Junior

BIOL 3500 - Evolution 3 credit hours
Social/Behavioral Sciences (2 prefixes) 6 credit hours
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 3 credit hours
Upper-division minor course 3 credit hours
Upper-division minor or elective 3 credit hours
BIOL Organismal and Ecology Concentration-Ecology Track 3-4 credit hours
BIOL 3400 - General Ecology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 3401 - General Ecology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4110 - General Physiology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4111 - General Physiology Lab 0 credit hours
OR
BIOL 4210 - Cell and Molecular Biology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4211 - Cell and Molecular Biology Lab 0 credit hours
OR
BIOL 4500 - Plant Physiology 4 credit hours
BIOL 4350 - Biometry 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4351 - Biometry Lab 0 credit hours
OR
MATH 1920 - Calculus II 4 credit hours
OR
MATH 2050 - Probability and Statistics 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 32-34 Hours

Senior

BIOL 4200 - Seminar 2 credit hours
Upper-division BIOL 4 credit hours
Electives 9-6 credit hours
Upper-division minor or electives 6-9 credit hours
BIOL Organismal and Ecology Concentration-Ecology Track 6-7 credit hours