Biology

Major / Minor

The Biology Department engages students in an exciting and challenging environment where they master biological concepts and develop scientific competencies necessary to be critical thinkers, successful professionals, and responsible citizens. Faculty give students firsthand experience with research throughout our curriculum, starting with introductory courses. This focus makes our students better candidates for funding from external organizations when they become juniors and seniors and successfully prepares them for careers in fields like medicine and research science.

Through hands-on experiences in our laboratories, field work at Abernathy Field Station and in the W&J Campus Arboretum, and independent research with faculty, biology students can gain expertise in pre-health professions, neuroscience, biochemistry, environmental science, forensic science, and biological physics. See the Biology Majors' Handbook for additional information.

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Biology Snapshot

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Courses

Research and Internships

Careers After W&J

You’ll find W&J Biology alumni in a variety of fields, including health and biomedical professions, working as certified veterinarians, epidemiologists, ecological and wildlife researchers, and as teachers, lawyers, and science communicators.

Our alumni go on to have successful careers after W&J and are able to better their communities and the world. One example is Donté Stevens ’16, who was selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as the recipient of a graduate research fellowship, and also received the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study to support diversity and inclusion in science. Alumni like Kory Imbrescia ’12 called on skills they learned at W&J to assist in fighting the Coronavirus pandemic.

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Beyond the Classroom

With ample funding and an extensive network of alumni, we open doors to research and internship opportunities for our students to help them build the careers they want. Our students have been recognized as Fulbright Scholars, with support from the National Science Foundation, and by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – like Alondra Martinez Osorno ’21, who was one of only 15 students in the nation to win a prestigious NIH scholarship.

Our students’ research, in classrooms and in off-campus internships, has delved into areas as varied as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, urban ecology, fish populations, prosthetics bioengineering, and jellyfish bacteria. More information is available on the Science Research Internships Wiki. Biology students also work with local schools, parks, civic organizations, medical facilities, and more as part of the major’s Community Engagement Requirement.

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After completing my first Magellan in Florida…I had the idea to study baseball, but I wasn’t sure how I could make it a research project. Then, I thought about how players come from all over the world to play in the U.S.

Brooke Shuck '20

Business Administration, Chemistry, Biology

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Seven Washington & Jefferson College (W&J) students have been selected to receive stipends from W&J’s Merck Internships for Excellence in Science program to support off-campus biomedical research internships in Summer 2022.

2022 Merck Scholars

Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry

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The biology major is interning in the lab of Paul Himes, Ph.D., at the University of Louisville. The lab is working with different mutant pathogenic bacteria and examining their growth patterns to determine if other bacteria can disrupt their chemical signaling pathways to limit their growth.