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Biology
About the Department |
| The Earlham Biology
Department’s unique strength is its balanced curriculum
with unusual depth in outdoor biology and ecology on the one
hand, and modern laboratory experiences in cellular and molecular
biology on the other. Students learn the principles of a variety
of sub-disciplines of biology, and they acquire skills in scientific
problem solving by means of laboratory, field and literature
research. The rich curriculum allows students to develop a strong
general program and to concentrate in the areas of cellular/molecular/physiological
or organismal/ecological/evolutionary biology. |
|  A
hallmark of biology at Earlham is the close working relationships
students develop with professors in the classroom, in the
laboratory and in the field. Recent cooperative student-faculty
research efforts have investigated a wide variety of topics
including immune responses in insects, population dynamics
of turtles and endangered iguanas, the history of women in
science, seed-dispersal ecology of wild flowers, spider behavior
in the Puerto Rican rainforest, the genetics of hairy-cell
leukemia, censuses of bird populations in fragmented forests,
the physiology of heart attacks and the ecology of invasive
weeds in deciduous forests.
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 During
their education, majors are encouraged to study abroad on one
of Earlham’s off-campus study programs or to study off-campus
through our affiliation with the Great Lakes Colleges Association/Associated
Colleges of the Midwest science programs at the Oak Ridge National
Laboratories in Tennessee, Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute
in Massachusetts, or the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
The Biology Department faculty have been very active in leading
both semester-long off-campus programs (Kenya, England, Oak
Ridge) and shorter expeditions during May Term (Amazon, Galapagos,
Bahamas, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Baja California, Nebraska
Sandhills, Colorado). |
 Our
department emphasizes “hands-on” science. Our facilities
richly support this emphasis and include a state-of-the-art
molecular genetics laboratory, a new ecology research lab, a
scanning electron microscope, open access to the campus computer
network, nationally recognized library facilities and access
to online resources, extensive greenhouse and animal care areas,
an excellent regional herbarium, 600 acres of natural areas
on the back campus, and 200 acres of nearby college-owned forests
and old-fields. Many students take on active roles in the department
through their work with faculty and staff in the stockroom,
office and greenhouse, and through their participation as teaching
and research assistants. Students working in Earlham’s
Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History develop skills in preparing
specimens, caring for scientific collections and exhibits, and
providing educational programs to the wider regional community. |
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Earlham’s Biology Department
continues to rank among the nation’s leading life science
programs based on the proportion of graduates going on to receive
the Ph.D. Recent graduates have entered advanced programs at
Berkeley, Chicago, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Purdue, Stanford,
Tufts, and Yale; and at the universities of Arizona, Colorado,
Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin, and SUNY-Stonybrook.
At these schools our graduates are investigating three dimensional
protein imaging, community ecology of the marine intertidal,
the molecular basis of sexual selection in plants, the ecology
of invasive species in the Grand Canyon, organelle biogenesis,
and microhabitat preferences of desert lizards. |
| A high percentage
of our medical school applicants are accepted at excellent
schools and pursue careers as physicians and medical researchers.
The same is true of our pre-vet students. Many graduates go
on to teaching careers at all levels. Many follow careers
in environmental science and others are pursuing careers in
business, and in government service including public health,
environmental consulting, endangered species protection and
restoration, National Wildlife Refuge management, grants administration,
ecotourism and natural history education.
Contact us:
Biology Department
Earlham College
801 National Road West, Drawer 165
Richmond, IN 47374
Phone:(765) 983-1210
Fax: (765) 983-1497 |
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