Overview

•  A major learning goal of our program is to appreciate knowledge from multiple levels of analysis, while specializing in one or more of these areas (mechanistic, developmental, adaptive and evolutionary).  We offer a broad exposure and core curricular basis that will serve as the foundation for more specialized coursework, and ultimately, for independent research in preparation for a career as a professional biologist with a range of employment options.
• While each student’s course of study is tailored to his or her needs and background, students across the program will share many learning goals on the road to establishing themselves as professional biologists, including:  independent learning and mastery of the appropriate literature in the student’s subfield; integration of the current state of knowledge to formulate a cutting edge research question; acquisition of data collection skills; acquisition of appropriate analysis skills to derive conclusions for appropriately designed investigations; effective communication abilities using written, spoken and presentation skills.