Biology

Biology faculty encompasses essentially everything else, including, for instance, the coordination of organs in the body via hormones; neural processing and the behavior it generates; the evolution of physiology, morphology, patterns of development, life-history strategies, parasite/prey interactions, behavior, and even of life itself; the interaction of organisms, whether of the same species (as in competition, mate attraction and sexual selection, or social interactions), or of different species organized into communities; and ultimately the relationships of communities with the inorganic world?a set of interactions that generates ecosystems.

In short, the Biology faculty is interested in the entire rich tapestry of life (including many of the processes studied by molecular biologists), but always from an evolutionary perspective.
Much of the work in the department is highly relevant to conservation.

The program of study is designed to ensure students get both a broad and deep education.
While it is expected that students take at least one course in each of the Department's core areas-ecology/conservation, evolution/genetics, and behavior/physiology-there are ample opportunities to take additional higher level courses in each area, and in the related fields of public policy, natural history, and the evolutionary aspects of developmental biology.