Biology

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Majors and minor offered 

See also Biochemistry (administered jointly with chemistry), Biology–Physics (administered jointly with physics), Biomedical Sciences, Conservation Biology, and Neuroscience (administered jointly with psychology). A combined major is offered with Environmental Studies. Note that Biology majors cannot double major in Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, Biology-Physics, Environmental-Science-Biology, or Conservation Biology. 

Visit the biology department web page at https://www.stlawu.edu/offices/biology. 

Courses for the Non-major  

BIOL 101 and 121 are open to all students and fulfill the natural science with lab distribution. BIOL 101 and 121 fulfill the environmental literacy distribution requirement. BIOL 101 and 102 also serve as the year of general biology required by many professional schools.   

Major Requirements  

Students entering St. Lawrence with an interest in biology should enroll in General Biology (BIOL 101 and 102) during their first year. They should also seek early advisement by a biology faculty member. Biology majors must complete a set of required and elective courses (outlined below). Only students who earn grades of 2.0 or higher in BIOL 101 and 102 may enroll in upper-level biology courses . Biology majors may only use transfer credit for two biology courses that count toward the major.  

Required Courses  

Full course descriptions can be found by visiting the Catalog section for the sponsoring department.  

Specific Courses  

Students must take all the following courses:  

  • BIOL 101 and 102. General Biology.   
  • CHEM 103 and 104. General Chemistry.  
  • STAT 113 Applied Statistics or the following two MATH courses: 135. Calculus I. and 136. Calculus II.  

Electives  

Students take a minimum of six additional biology courses, each worth at least 0.83 units. Two of these six courses must be at the 300 or 400 level.  

Laboratory Requirement 

Also, as part of six biology elective courses, students must fulfill the laboratory requirement in one of the following ways:  

  1. completing four courses  with a laboratory component, 
  2. completing three courses with a laboratory component and one unit of  BIOL-489. SYE: Biology Capstone Original Research I; or 
  3. completing two courses with a laboratory component and one of following: BIOL-252 Research Methods in Cell Biology, BIOL-392 Research Methods in Fluorescence and Confocal Microscopy, BIOL-394 Research Methods in Biochemistry, or BIOL-395 Research Methods in Molecular Biology.  

Independent Research and the Senior Year Experience  

Students who wish to conduct independent research before their senior year may do so by enrolling in customized research methods courses under BIOL 381 Research Methods Training , or as seniors, by taking  BIOL468. SYE: Biology Capstone I or  BIOL489. SYE: Biology Capstone Original Research I. Students must discuss possible projects with members of the biology faculty. For more details, see https://www.stlawu.edu/offices/biology.  

Minor Requirements  

The minimum course requirements for a minor in biology are two semesters of General Biology (BIOL 101 and BIOL 102) plus 3 additional biology courses above the 100 level, each worth at least 0.83 units. At least one of the three additional courses must be at the 300 level, and two of the three courses must have a laboratory component. Independent research courses (BIOL-368, 369, 381, 382, 468, 469, 489, and 490) cannot be used for the biology minor. The department does not require specific courses but does strongly recommend that minors select courses that provide a breadth of experiences. Advanced placement for the minor is the same as for the major. Biology minors may only use transfer credit for one biology course that counts toward the minor.  

Honors in Biology 

To graduate with honors in biology requires 1 unit of  BIOL468 SYE: Biology Capstone I or BIOL489 SYE: Biology Capstone Original Research I,  1 unit of  BIOL499 SYE: Biology Capstone Honors, a 3.5 major GPA, submission of a signed honors nomination form, a thesis, a public presentation of the research project, and approval of the honors project committee. BIOL468 or BIOL489 may not be taken in the same semester as BIOL-499. A student wishing to be considered for honors in biology should enroll in BIOL- 468 or 489 during the first semester of their biology capstone experience (usually, but not limited to, the fall semester of the senior year) for 1 unit of credit. The student, in consultation with the project advisor, should choose an honors project committee comprised of the project advisor and two other faculty members appropriate to the topic (one of these two may be from another department). This honors committee should be formed as soon as possible in the first semester of the capstone experience.   

At the end of the first semester, the honors project advisor, in consultation with the other members of the honors committee, evaluates a formal research proposal and progress toward the completion of the project. If the project is deemed worthy of honors in biology, the student is nominated as a candidate for honors and submits the honors nomination form to one of the department co-chairs. The student can then enroll in 499. SYE: Biology Capstone Honors for the second (usually spring) semester for 1 unit of credit. However, BIOL-499 does not count toward the minimum requirements of the biology major.  

Students wishing to conduct an honors project should consult with potential project advisors by the end of the junior year.  

Honors in the Environmental Science–Biology Combined Major  

To graduate with honors in the environmental science–biology combined major, students must maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher in biology and environmental studies courses and complete an honors research project having an environmental component or emphasis. The timetable and guidelines are the same as for honors in biology, except that the project must be guided by a project committee comprised of at least one faculty member from both environmental studies and biology. Also, the student is nominated for honors by both the environmental studies and biology faculty. 

Advanced Placement Exams  

Students Not Previously Awarded Credit for AP or IB Exam Scores  

Students who score a 4 or 5 on the AP Biology exam, or a 5, 6, or 7 on the IB Biology exam, and who have not previously been awarded credit, have two options for receiving course credit based on their exam results.  

Option 1: At matriculation, students who know they will never be interested in a major, minor, or health-related career that requires BIOL-101 General Biology w/Lab may request credit for BIOL104-General Biology w/lab for Nonmajors (1.25 units), which fulfills the NS-L requirement for graduation. Credit for BIOL104-General Biology w/lab for Nonmajors does not allow students to register for upper-level biology courses.  

Option 2: Students who may be interested in a major, minor, or health-related career that requires two semesters of college-level General Biology should enroll in BIOL-101 General Biology w/lab (1.25 units), a course only offered in the fall semester that fulfills the NS-L and EL graduation requirements. Students who earn a grade of at least 3.0 in BIOL-101 may request AP or IB transfer credit for BIOL-102 General Biology w/lab, which will appear on their transcript (1.25 units) without a grade. This credit will also allow students to register for courses that require BIOL-102 as a prerequisite. Although the AP or IB scores noted above automatically nominate students for the option to bypass BIOL-102, students may voluntarily choose to enroll in BIOL-102 General Biology w/lab in the spring semester. When deciding whether to bypass BIOL-102, students should consider that some professional schools (particularly health professional schools) may not accept AP or IB credit for the required General Biology courses (e.g., BIOL 101 and BIOL 102).   

Transfer Students Awarded Credit for AP or IB Exam Scores by a Previous School  

Transfer students will be awarded the same credit for scoring a 4 or 5 on the AP biology exam or a 5, 6, or 7 on the IB exam that they received at their previous school. To receive this credit:  

  1. The credit students received for their AP or IB scores must be listed on their transcript from their previous school; and  
  2. Students must request that their Biology AP or IB test scores be submitted to St. Lawrence University from the College Board or IB.    

See Biology courses

Updated 7/1/26