Program Overview

Zoology Undergraduate Major (BS, HBS)

The Zoology major offers scientific training in the diversity, organismal biology, ecology, and evolution of animals. The major core provides a solid foundation in the biological sciences while electives allow students to cater course work to meet specific interests in animal biology.

Program Overview

• The program is administered by the Department of Integrative Biology under the School of Life Sciences.
• It is available at the following locations: Corvallis, Ecampus.
• Undergraduate research, internship, teaching, and study abroad experience are strongly recommended, and credits can be integrated with major requirements.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:

• Explain and apply the fundamental concepts of the biological sciences, including Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics; Animal Physiology and Diversity; Ecology and Evolution; and Conservation Management and Policy.
• Identify and access information (from primary literature and other relevant works) for a particular topic and evaluate the scientific content and context of these sources.
• Generate relevant and testable scientific questions, formulate testable hypotheses, and identify measurable predictions based on observations or previous research.
• Design and implement observational or experimental investigations to collect relevant data, and employ appropriate analytical methods to analyze that data.
• Interpret data and/or observations to support or refute hypotheses, draw conclusions, put findings in the context of current scientific knowledge and literature, and/or suggest future avenues of research.
• Use effective formal and informal communication (i.e., written, oral, graphical, multimedia) to convey scientific information in ways that are appropriate for scientific and non-scientific audiences.
• Integrate and analyze information within and across spatial and temporal scales as well as levels of biological organization.
• Identify, reflect upon, and evaluate assumptions, biases, and alternative hypotheses or interpretations for their own scientific claims or those of others.
• Justify the importance of science and science literacy for individuals and society.
• Integrate biology with other disciplines to make evidence-based decisions on socio-scientific issues.
• Explain how biases and societal factors affect the processes of science (and vice versa), access to participation in science, and the differential outcomes and impacts (both positive and negative) of science on individuals.
• Explain and justify the ethical standards of their discipline, evaluate the ethics of published science, and articulate their personal code of ethics.
• Use effective and appropriate forms of collaboration.
• Produce a self-assessment of interpersonal and academic behaviors needed to achieve their individual career goals.

Requirements

• Students in the Biology major must complete BI 221, BI 222, and BI 223 (or the honors version of this series) with a C or better to continue on to upper-division Biology (BI) and Zoology (Z) coursework.
• Students must also complete their General Chemistry series and CH 331 with a C in each term to move on to other Chemistry (CH) coursework.
• Students majoring in Biology, BioHealth Sciences, Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Sciences, or Zoology cannot seek a dual or double major in any combination of these four majors.
• Zoology majors cannot seek the Biology minor.

Course List

The following courses are part of the Zoology Undergraduate Major:

Core

• BI 198: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT I: BIOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY (1 credit)
• BI 298: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR BIOLOGISTS II (1 credit)
• COMM 111Z: *PUBLIC SPEAKING (4 credits)
• WR 227Z: *TECHNICAL WRITING (4 credits) or WR 362: *SCIENCE WRITING

Quantitative and Physical Sciences Core

• Select one of the following MTH series:
  • MTH 251 & MTH 252: *DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS and INTEGRAL CALCULUS
  • MTH 227 & MTH 228: *CALCULUS AND PROBABILITY FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES I and CALCULUS AND PROBABILTITY FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES II
• Select one of the following CH series:
  • Series 1: CH 231 & CH 261: GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 231, CH 232 & CH 262: GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 232, CH 233 & CH 263: GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 233
  • Series 2: CH 121 & CH 122 & CH 123: GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *GENERAL CHEMISTRY, CH 331 & CH 332: ORGANIC CHEMISTRY and ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, CH 337 or CH 390: ORGANIC CHEMISTRY LABORATORY or ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY
• ST 351 & ST 352: INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS and INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS

Biological Sciences Core

• Select one of the following series:
  • Series 1 (Corvallis students): BI 221 & BI 222 & BI 223: *PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGY: CELLS and *PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGY: ORGANISMS and *PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGY: POPULATIONS
  • Series 2 (Ecampus students): BI 204 & BI 205 & BI 206: *INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY I and *INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY II and *INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY III
• BI 370: ECOLOGY (3 credits)
• BI 311: GENETICS (4 credits)
• BB 314: CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (4 credits)
• Z 361 & Z 362: INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY and INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY LABORATORY
• Z 371 & Z 372: VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY and VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY LABORATORY
• Z 423: ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY (3 credits)
• BI 445: EVOLUTION (3 credits)
• BI 483: POPULATION BIOLOGY (3 credits)

Writing Intensive Course (WIC)

• Select one course from the following:
  • BI 319: ^THEORY, PRACTICE AND DISCOURSE IN THE LIFE SCIENCES
  • BI 371: ^ECOLOGICAL METHODS
  • BI 373: ^FIELD METHODS IN MARINE ECOLOGY

Senior Biology Field Test

• Students are required to take a comprehensive, two-hour Biology Major Field Test in their final OSU term (or spring term if they will graduate in summer): BI 498: SENIOR ASSESSMENT AND SURVEY (0 credits)

Electives

• Organismal, Physiology and Systematics Electives: Select two courses from the list provided.
• Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Electives: Select two courses from the list provided.
• Natural Resource, Management and Policy Electives: Select two courses from the list provided.
• Experiential Learning or Skills Elective: Select one of the following two tracks.

Total Credits

The total credits required for the program are 180.

Major Code

The major code for the Zoology Undergraduate Major is 620.