Degree Pathway for the Bachelor of Science in Biology - Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Option - 2021

For students who entered fall 2021 to spring 2023.

Freshman Year

Sophomore Year

Junior Year

Senior Year

¹The Arts and Humanities (AH) and Social Sciences (SS) perspectives are subsets of the Breadth of Knowledge requirements in the Core Curriculum. No more than two Breadth of Knowledge courses can be taken with the same four-letter prefix.

The Core Curriculum also includes seven Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs). The Diversity and Cultural Awareness (DCA) and Social Responsibility and Ethics (SRE) are met outside the major requirements. See the DCA course listing and the SRE course listing for a full list of classes that fulfill these requirements.

The Class Search tool can be used to identify AH and SS courses that simultaneously satisfy the DCA or SRE requirement.

The Core Curriculum courses may be taken in any sequence. Refer to the Core Curriculum policy for further details. You should meet with your college-based professional advisor and/or faculty advisor to determine how best to satisfy the Core Curriculum requirements.

²Students are required to take one course from the “Organisms, Evolution, and Environment” (OEE) category and one from the “Cell and Tissue” (CT) category to ensure they have adequate Breadth of Knowledge at the sophomore level. Students should consult with their advisor regarding course selection to satisfy the OEE and CT elective requirements. BIOL.2400 Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation is recommended as the OEE elective for the Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology option as it is a pre-requisite for upper-level Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology option electives.

• Organisms, Evolution, and Environment Electives
  • BIOL.2400 Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation
  • BIOL.2055 Introduction to Bioinformatics
• Cell and Tissue Electives
  • BIOL.2200 Principles of Cellular Biology
  • BIOL.2520 Physiology

³Free Electives can be satisfied by any UML course xxxx.1010 or above, with the following exceptions:

• Courses with the MATH prefix must be above the level of Calculus I.
• Courses with the LIFE prefix may NOT be used.
• Additional Biology courses can be used, but NO MORE than 60 credits of BIOL coursework may be applied towards the minimum 120 credits requirement to graduate.

⁴Students must complete four (4) upper-level electives – two (2) of which must be lab courses. These courses are selected from two different categories:

• Ecology Electives: Three (3) of the four upper-level electives must be selected from an approved list of ecology courses. One (1) of these ecology electives must be a lab course.
  • BIOL.3500 Parasitic Protozoology
  • BIOL.4050L Bioinformatics
  • BIOL.4360 Behavioral Ecology
  • BIOL.4480 Form Feeds Function in Vertebrate Evolution
  • BIOL.4670 Molecular Biology
  • BIOL.4690L Molecular Techniques
  • BIOL.4840 Comparative Vertebrate
  • BIOL.3060 / BIOL.3080L Invertebrate Zoology / Invertebrate Zoology Lab
  • BIOL.3420 / BIOL.3440L Comp Vertebrate Anatomy / Comp Vertebrate Anatomy Lab
  • BIOL.4320 / BIOL.4340L Genomics / Genomics Lab
  • BIOL.4480 Form Feeds Function in Vertebrate Evolution
  • BIOL.4570 / BIOL.4590L Metazoan Parasitology / Metazoan Parasitology Lab
  • BIOL.4072 / BIOL.4072L Data Science for Biologists / Data Science for Biologists Lab
  • BIOL.4550 / BIOL.4550L Entomology / Entomology Lab
  • BIOL.4800 / BIOL.4810L Developmental Biology / Developmental Biology Lab
  • BIOL.5860 Experimental Design and Analysis in Life Science
  • ENVI.3010 GIS in Earth and Environmental Sciences
  • ENVI.4100 / ENVI.4120L Soil Science / Soil Science Lab
  • ENVI.4150 Biogeochemical Cycles
  • ENVI.4160 / ENVI.4170L Climate Change: Science, Communication, and Solutions / Climate Change: Science, Communication, and Solutions Lab
  • ENVI.5020 Freshwater Ecology
  • ENVS.5010 Wetlands Ecology
  • ENVS.5810 Understanding Massachusetts Contingency Plan
  • GEOL.3140 Hydrogeology
  • GEOL.3150 Environmental Geochemistry
  • GEOL.3310 Earth History
  • GEOL.5010 Paleoclimatology
  • GEOL.5240 Regional Hydrogeology
  • GEOL.5250 Groundwater Modeling
• Biodiversity Elective: The remaining one (1) upper-level elective must be selected from an approved list of upper-level list of biodiversity courses.
  • BIOL.3060 / BIOL.3080L Invertebrate Zoology / Invertebrate Zoology Lab
  • BIOL.3420 / BIOL.3440L Comp Vertebrate Anatomy / Comp Vertebrate Anatomy Lab
  • BIOL.4480 Form Feeds Function in Vertebrate Evolution
  • BIOL.4570 / BIOL.4590L Metazoan Parasitology / Metazoan Parasitology Lab
  • BIOL.4550 / BIOL.4550L Entomology / Entomology Lab

Note: Some labs can be taken as a 3 credit lecture with a 1 credit lab or both combined into a 4 credit class. In addition, some lab courses have a 3 credit lecture with 2 credit lab for a total of 5 credits.

⁵Free Elective can vary from 1-3 credits depending on the number of 1 credit or 2 credit labs completed. For example:

• If a student completes no more than two elective 1 credits labs (whether the lab is a separate course or combined with the lecture into a 4 credit class), then Free Elective will be a 3 credit class.
• However, if a student completes no more than two elective labs and each has a separate 2 credit lab, then the student will have earned two additional credits which can be counted towards Free Elective thus reducing it to one credit.

⁶Courses may be taken in either semester of the year listed.

No more than two Breadth of Knowledge courses can be taken with the same prefix. The Core Curriculum courses may be taken in any sequence. Refer to the Core Curriculum policy for further details. You should meet with your faculty advisor to determine how you will meet the Core Curriculum requirements.

Current UMass Lowell students should use their Advisement Report in SIS. If you need assistance, please contact your advisor.

Restriction on off-campus study:

Be advised that any course taken at another institution must be formally approved prior to enrollment. See the catalog policy for details.