Biology
Overview
Biology is a rapidly expanding, multifaceted discipline, full of possibilities for undergraduate research and for stimulating graduate study and employment after Occidental. Within an evolutionary framework, our program investigates the interactions between molecules, cells, organisms, populations, and ecosystems that constitute life on earth. Interdisciplinary and integrative by nature, the biology program at Occidental engages both majors and non-majors in a curriculum that emphasizes laboratory and field investigation. Our students are encouraged to collaborate with faculty mentors, whose research employs current methods in addressing questions from the molecular to the global in scale. Students acquire skills from careful observation through hypothesis formulation and experimental design to formal oral and written presentations of results. After participating in the biology program at Occidental College, students are prepared for rewarding work and lifelong learning, armed with the tools necessary to understand large complex data sets and help explain the intricacies of living systems. This rigorous program provides our students with the training to enter the work force after graduation and/or transition to an advanced degree program. After completing the major, many students elect to take graduate training toward the Ph.D. in biological sciences or doctorates of medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy or dentistry. Many of our students complete Masters programs in Biological Sciences, teaching, environmental health and safety, and resource management. Receiving a degree in Biology at Occidental College enables our students to excel in any post-baccalaureate professional pursuit.
The Department of Biology is housed within the Bioscience building which is contiguous with the Moore Laboratory of Zoology. Facilities include the bird and mammal collections (70,000 specimens) of Moore Laboratory, greenhouses, facilities for microscopy (scanning and transmission electron and fluorescence), a tissue culture suite and fluorescence-activated cell sorter, fully-equipped molecular biology laboratories, field vehicles, and three research vessels for nearshore marine studies and SCUBA diving. Because of its proximity to the Mojave Desert, the Santa Monica, San Gabriel, and San Bernardino Mountains, and seacoast, Occidental College is ideally suited for field and laboratory studies of environmental biology.
Major Requirements
Individual Program
Organismal Biology
Students must select one course from the list below:
Cellular and Molecular Biology (2 courses)
Environmental Biology
Students must select one course from the list below:
| BIO 106 | Biology of California | 4 |
| BIO 260 | Biodiversity and Organization of Marine Ecosystems | 4 |
| BIO 270 | Ecology | 4 |
| BIO 275 | Flora of Southern California | 4 |
Evolutionary Biology
Organismal Biology
Students must select one course from the list below:
Upper-division Biology
Students must select three 300-level Biology courses (at least two of which must be Occidental College Biology laboratory courses).
Senior Seminar
SUPPORTING COURSEWORK
Students are required to complete five additional courses. Two must be in chemistry as detailed below and three additional quantitative courses.
Chemistry
| CHEM 120 | Foundations of General Chemistry | 4 |
| | Or | |
| CHEM 130 | Advanced Placement General Chemistry | 4 |
| | And | |
| CHEM 220 | Organic Chemistry I | 4 |
Quantitative Coursework
Calculus
| Calculus 1 | Scientific Modeling and Differential Calculus | |
Students who pass out of Calculus I instead take an additional quantitative course form those listed below.
Data Analysis
Students must select one course from the list below:
| BIO 260 | Biodiversity and Organization of Marine Ecosystems | 4 |
| BIO 268 | Biostatistics | 4 |
| COGS 255 | Data Analysis and Visualization | 4 |
| GEO 255 | Spatial Analysis with Geographic Information Science | 4 |
| MATH 150 | Statistical Data Analysis | 4 |
| PSYC 201 | Statistics in Psychological Science | 4 |
Additional Quantitative Course
Students must complete one additional elective (or a minimum of four units) either from the list above or from the following list:
For 2-unit courses, students must complete two, 2-unit courses to fulfill one quantitative requirement.
Emphasis in Cell and Molecular Biology
Organismal Biology:
Students must select one course from the list below:
Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
| BIO 130 | Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology | 4 |
Cell and Molecular Biology
Students must select two courses from the list below:
Environmental Biology
Students must select one course from the list below:
| BIO 106 | Biology of California | 4 |
| BIO 260 | Biodiversity and Organization of Marine Ecosystems | 4 |
| BIO 270 | Ecology | 4 |
| BIO 275 | Flora of Southern California | 4 |
Evolutionary Biology
Organismal Biology
Students must select one course from the list below:
Upper-division Biology:
Students must complete a total of three 300-level Biology courses. Two must be chosen from the list below:
Senior Seminar
SUPPORTING COURSEWORK
All Biology majors must complete the required Supporting Coursework requirements. Please see above for more detail.
Emphasis in Environmental Science
A minimum of 16 courses are required to complete this program.
Biology Foundation:
(Eight courses required)
| BIO 130 | Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology | 4 |
| BIO 280 | Evolutionary Biology | 4 |
Students must select one course from the list below:
Students must select one course from the list below:
Students must select one course from the list below:
| BIO 260 | Biodiversity and Organization of Marine Ecosystems | 4 |
| BIO 270 | Ecology | 4 |
Select three courses from the list below:
Chemistry Component:
(Two courses required)
| CHEM 120 | Foundations of General Chemistry | 4 |
| | One other chemistry course with lab | |
Economics Component:
(Two courses required)
ECON 301: Students may petition for another 300-level course to substitute for ECON-301. An appropriate substitute must deal with environmental policy and be chosen in consultation with Academic Advisor.
Geology Component:
(3 required)
| GEO 105 | Earth: Our Environment | 4 |
| GEO 255 | Spatial Analysis with Geographic Information Science | 4 |
| GEO 245 | Earth's Climate: Past and Future | 4 |
Mathematics Component:
Select one option as detailed below:
Option 1-
| Calculus 2 | Scientific Modeling and Integral Calculus | |
Option 2-
| MATH 110 | Calculus 1 | 4 |
| | And | |
| | Department-approved statistics course | |
Emphasis in Marine Biology
Students are required to satisfy all the requirements for the biology major and must take four of the following upper-division courses:
| BIO 260 | Biodiversity and Organization of Marine Ecosystems | 4 |
| BIO 268 | Biostatistics | 4 |
| BIO 344 | Invertebrate Morphology and Physiology | 4 |
| BIO 356 | The Biology of Marine Fishes | 4 |
| BIO 369 | Biological Oceanography | 4 |
| GEO 245 | Earth's Climate: Past and Future | 4 |
These courses may also satisfy biology major requirements.
WRITING REQUIREMENT
Students majoring in Biology will satisfy the final component of Occidental College's campus-wide writing requirement by successfully completing two courses at the 300-level (or appropriate course work). Students should familiarize themselves with the departmental requirement at the time of declaring the major. See the Writing Program and consult the department chair for additional information.
HONORS
The Honors Program at Occidental College is designed to allow the superior student’s attention to be focused on a directed investigation for a sustained period of time. It is expected that students admitted to the College Honors Program will have established themselves as outstanding prospects for individualized work in the department of their major and will also have established themselves as doing work of very high quality in all that they have undertaken at Occidental. Student admission to the College Honors Program will be by formal action of the faculty in the student’s major department (taken from the College Catalogue statement on Honors).
Requirements
- Student typically will have worked on a research project for 2 semesters (or 1 semester + summer session) minimum, before applying for honors
- Student must have an average GPA of 3.25 (college policy)
Application Process
- Student should discuss with their research mentor and submit an official Letter of Intent to the Biology Chairperson by the beginning of their senior year, or sooner.
- The letter of intent should include a summary of research results (realized and projected), as well as significance of the research and any projects in progress at the time of submission.
- Applications will be evaluated by the Biology faculty.
- Students nominated for honors will be notified by the Biology Chairperson.
Completion Process
- At the time of nomination, each candidate will be assigned an honors thesis committee of two Biology faculty members, in addition to their faculty mentor. This committee will be available for guidance and to help ensure that milestones are met in a timely manner.
- Milestones will include a thorough literature review, written drafts of the introduction, methods, and results sections, including draft figures, and a final discussion section, as well as preparation of a public seminar.
- The candidate must complete a written thesis of their work. It is expected that the student will spend part of their final semester or directed research writing the thesis.
- The written thesis will be due to the mentor by Monday in the 4th week of February.
- The revised honors thesis will be due to the committee by Monday in the 3rd week of February.
- The thesis will be reviewed by committee, and final revisions must be submitted by the last day of March.
- Honors candidates will also give a presentation on their research during the week of April 15. These presentations will last approximately 15 minutes, with 5 min for questions.
- Honors grades are Pass/Fail and reported to the registrar by the Chair. The chair will inform the students of their grade when it is decided upon by the committee.
Minor Requirements
COURSEWORK
Choose two introductory courses:
Upper-level electives
Choose three additional courses at the 200 or 300 levels, two of which must be taken in the Occidental College Biology Department. Independent Studies and Advanced Placement credit may not count toward the minor.
Graduate Study
Graduate study toward the degree of Master of Arts under the thesis plan may be undertaken in Biology by properly qualified students. Thesis projects may be elected in any of the following fields: cellular biology, developmental biology, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, neurobiology, biochemistry, comparative physiology, animal behavior, environmental biology, ecology, systematics and evolutionary biology, and marine biology. Graduate courses, numbered 500 and above, are valued at five units unless otherwise noted. Consult the department chair for further information on graduate studies.
Courses
Biology Courses
Faculty
Regular Faculty
Daniel Pondella, chair
Associate Professor, Biology; Director, Vantuna Research Group
A.B., M.A., Occidental College; Ph.D., UCLA
Renee Baran
Associate Professor, Biology; Advisory Committee, Biochemistry; Advisory Committee, Neuroscience
B.A., Macalester College; Ph.D., UC Berkeley
Elizabeth Braker
Professor, Biology; Advisory Committee, Kinesiology; Advisory Committee, Urban and Environmental Policy; Affiliated Faculty, Latino/a and Latin American Studies
B.A., Colorado College; Ph.D., UC Berkeley
Shana Goffredi
Associate Professor, Biology; Advisory Committee, Biochemistry
B.A., University of San Diego; Ph.D., UC Santa Barbara
Gary Martin
Professor, Biology
B.A., M.A., California State College, Sonoma; Ph.D., UC Berkeley
John McCormack
Assistant Professor, Biology; Affiliated Faculty, Latino/a and Latin American Studies
B.S., University of Arizona; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Gretchen North
Professor, Biology; Advisory Committee, Urban and Environmental Policy
John W. McMenamin Endowed Chair in Biology
B.A., Stanford University; M.A., University of Connecticut; M.A., College of William and Mary; Ph.D., UCLA
Cheryl Okumura
Assistant Professor, Biology
B.A. Pomona College; Ph.D. UCLA
Roberta Pollock
Professor, Biology; Biochemistry; Advisory Committee, Biochemistry
B.S., Emory University; Ph.D., Harvard University
Joseph Schulz
Associate Professor, Biology; Advisory Committee, Biochemistry; Advisory Committee, Neuroscience
B.S., Indiana University; Ph.D., UC San Diego
Kerry Thompson
Associate Professor, Biology; Advisory Committee, Biochemistry; Advisory Committee, Neuroscience
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., UCLA
Amanda Zellmer
Assistant Professor, Biology
B.S. University of Wisconsin, PhD University of Michigan
On Special Appointment
Maria Adreani
Non Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Biology
B.S., University of California, Santa Barbara; M.A., Northeastern University; M.S., California State University, Northridge; Ph.D. Florida State University
Jeffrey Arendt
Non Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Biology
B.S., University of Illinois; Ph.D., Binghampton University
Mary Clark
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Biology
B.A., Occidental College; Ph.D., UCLA
Kristine Kaiser
Part-time NTT Visiting Assistant Professor, Biology
B.S., M.S., Cleveland State University; Ph.D., UCLA
James Maley
Collections Manager Moore Laboratory of Zoology
B.S., M.S., University of Alaska Fairbanks; Ph.D., Louisiana State University
Jane E. Mendel
Part-time NTT Assistant Professor, Biology
B.S., B.A., University of Mississippi; Ph.D., University of Tennessee
Karen Molinder
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Biology
B.A. Occidental, PhD U.C.L.A.
Dwayne Morris-Irvin
Part-time NTT Assistant Professor, Biology
Gary Schindelman
Full-time NTT Associate Professor, Biology
B.S., State University of New York at Binghamton; Ph.D., New York University
Jonathan P. Williams
Adjunct Instructor, Biology
B.S., UNC Wilmington, M.S., CSU Northridge
Laurel Zahn
Adjunct Instructor, Biology
B.S. University of California, Santa Cruz, M.S. California State University Long Beach