Biology - Organisms and Ecosystems Track, BS
General Requirements
To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.
- CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
- CU Denver Core Curriculum
- College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
- Click here for information about Academic Policies
Program Requirements
- Students must complete a minimum of 36 BIOL credit hours.
- Students must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours in ancillary coursework.
- Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000- level and above) BIOL credit hours.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements. Grades in courses that fulfill requirements for the major (including electives, required classes, and ancillary classes) are calculated in the major GPA.
- Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000-level and above) BIOL credit hours with CU Denver faculty and at least 6 credits must be at 4000-level or higher.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
- Upper division BIOL courses more than ten years old will not count automatically to the Major, but can be evaluated individually for their current relevance to the degree program through a petition process with the Department of Integrative Biology Curriculum Committee. Approval for courses older than ten years is not guaranteed so students may be required to update their knowledge by taking additional courses when past courses are outdated.
- Undergraduate students may count up to six credit hours of independent study or internship (any combination of BIOL 3840 Independent Study, BIOL 3939 Internship, BIOL 4840 Independent Study, BIOL 4880 Directed Research) toward the upper-division Biology electives requirement in the major.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the following required biology courses: | 22 | |
| Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) | ||
or BIOL 2030 | Honors Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) | |
| Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) | ||
or BIOL 2031 | Honors Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) | |
| Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) | ||
or BIOL 2040 | Honors Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) | |
| Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) | ||
or BIOL 2041 | Honors Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) | |
| Diversity of Life | ||
| Principles of Ecology | ||
| Ecology Laboratory | ||
| Introduction to Evolution | ||
| General Genetics | ||
or BIOL 3124 | Introduction to Molecular Biology | |
| Complete the following required ancillary classes: | 9 | |
| General Chemistry I | ||
or CHEM 2032 | Majors General Chemistry I | |
or CHEM 2081 | Honors General Chemistry I | |
| General Chemistry Laboratory I | ||
or CHEM 2039 | Majors General Chemistry I Laboratory | |
or CHEM 2088 | Honors General Chemistry I Laboratory | |
| General Chemistry II | ||
or CHEM 2062 | Majors General Chemistry II | |
or CHEM 2091 | Honors General Chemistry II Lecture | |
| General Chemistry Laboratory II | ||
or CHEM 2069 | Majors General Chemistry II Laboratory | |
or CHEM 2098 | Honors General Chemistry II Laboratory | |
| Choose one quantitative class from this list (certain biology careers may require more math, speak with your advisor): | 3-4 | |
| Biostatistics | ||
| Calculus I | ||
| Applied Statistics | ||
| Choose one writing intensive class from this list: | 3 | |
| Rhetorics of Medicine & Health | ||
| Technical Writing (also satisfies CLAS Communicative Skills requirement) | ||
| Writing in the Sciences (also satisfies CLAS Communicative Skills requirement) | ||
| Argumentation and Logic (also satisfies CLAS Humanities requirement) | ||
| Proposal and Grant Writing (also satisfies CLAS Humanities requirement) | ||
| Choose at least two upper division BIOL 4000 level classes from this list, that have not already been taken above, must be from UCD faculty: | 6 | |
| Infectious Disease Ecology | ||
| Virology | ||
| Molecular Biology Laboratory | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Genomics and Bioinformatics | ||
| Mechanisms of Animal Behavior | ||
| Flora of Colorado | ||
| Microbial Genomics | ||
| Applied Microbial Ecology | ||
| Biogeography | ||
| Environmental Toxicology | ||
| Aquatic Ecology | ||
| Choose 8 credits from the following list that have not already been taken above: | 8 | |
| Introduction to Biotechnology | ||
| Behavioral Genetics | ||
| Introduction to Molecular Biology | ||
| Advanced Topics | ||
| Advanced Special Topics with Lab | ||
| Honors Human Physiology | ||
| Honors Human Physiology Lab | ||
| Honors Human Anatomy | ||
| Honors Human Anatomy Cadaver Lab | ||
| Virtual Human Anatomy Lab | ||
| Plant Diversity | ||
| Vertebrate Biology | ||
| Parasitology | ||
| General Cell Biology | ||
| General Microbiology | ||
| General Microbiology Lab | ||
| Developmental Biology | ||
| General Genetics | ||
| Independent Study | ||
| Internship | ||
| Advanced Biology Topics | ||
| Infectious Disease Ecology | ||
| Virology | ||
| Molecular Biology Laboratory | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Climate Change Biology | ||
| Genomics and Bioinformatics | ||
| Mechanisms of Animal Behavior | ||
| Flora of Colorado | ||
| Microbial Genomics | ||
| Applied Microbial Ecology | ||
| Biogeography | ||
| Environmental Toxicology | ||
| Aquatic Ecology | ||
| Directed Research | ||
| Total Hours | 51-52 | |
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.
To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.