Overview

The Earth harbors an incredible diversity of life, linked through webs of intricate ecological relationships and connected by deep evolutionary histories spanning millions of years. Human societies depend upon this biodiversity, yet much of it remains poorly understood by science and faces unprecedented threats from global change. The Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity (EEB), offered by the Department of Biology, trains the next generation of scientists to pioneer new insights into the natural world, clarify the processes that maintain and change it, and develop innovative approaches to its conservation. The EEB program prepares students to forge new understandings of the ecological interactions among species and their evolutionary adaptations to their environments. Graduating students can launch their career as a research scientist, a science policy advisor, an environmental analyst or a science communicator. In education, graduates can aim for university professor, K-12 science teacher or environmental program director. Out in the field, graduates can enter jobs as a restoration ecologist, park naturalist and conservation or natural resource manager.

Campus Location: Main

Program Code: ST-EEB-BS

Distinction in Major

To graduate with distinction in this major, a student must satisfy the following criteria:

• achieve a minimum 3.2 cumulative grade point average (GPA);
• achieve a minimum 3.2 major GPA;
• successfully complete BIOL 4391 Accelerated Research in Biology, BIOL 4291 Extradepartmental Research, or BIOL 4396 Advanced Study in Biology for a total of 6 credits over two semesters;
• write a final research paper; and/or
• present their research at a departmental research poster session.

Undergraduate Contact Information

Robert Sanders, Chair
Biology-Life Sciences Building, Room 255
215-204-8851

Erik Cordes, Vice Chair
Biology-Life Sciences Building, Room 315A
erik.cordes@temple.edu
215-204-8876

Brent Sewall, Faculty Advisor for Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity Majors
Biology-Life Sciences Building, Room 203
215-204-6115
bjsewall@temple.edu

Learn more about the Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity.

These requirements are for students who matriculated in academic year 2024-2025. Students who matriculated prior to fall 2024 should refer to the Archives to view the requirements for their Bulletin year.

Bachelor of Science Requirements

Summary of Requirements for the Degree

1. University Requirements (123 total s.h.)
   • Students must complete all University requirements including those listed below.
   • All undergraduate students must complete at least two writing-intensive courses for a total of at least six credits at Temple as part of their major. The specific writing-intensive course options for this major are:

     Course List

     Code	Title	Credit Hours
     BIOL 2297	Research Techniques in Genetics	3
     BIOL 4396	Advanced Study in Biology	3

   • Students must complete the General Education (GenEd) requirements.
     • See the General Education section of the Undergraduate Bulletin for the GenEd curriculum.
     • Students who complete CST majors receive a waiver for 2 Science & Technology (GS) and 1 Quantitative Literacy (GQ) GenEd courses.
   • Students must satisfy general Temple University residency requirements.
2. College Requirements
   • A minimum of 90 total credits within the College of Science & Technology (CST), the College of Liberal Arts (CLA), and/or the College of Engineering (ENG).
     • A minimum of 45 of these credits must be upper-level (courses numbered 2000 and above).
   • Complete a one-credit first-year or transfer seminar.
     • SCTC 1001 CST First Year Seminar for every entering first-year CST student.
     • SCTC 2001 CST Transfer Seminar for every entering transfer CST student.
3. Major Requirements for Bachelor of Science (74-82 s.h.)
   At least 9 courses required for the major must be completed at Temple. At least 6 Biology courses must be completed at Temple.

   Course List

   Code	Title	Credit Hours
   Biology
   BIOL 1111	Introduction to Organismal Biology	4
   or BIOL 1911	Honors Introduction to Organismal Biology
   Select one of the following:		4
   BIOL 1112	Introduction to Biomolecules, Cells and Genomes
   or BIOL 1912	Honors Introduction to Biomolecules, Cells and Genomes
   BIOL 2112	Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
   or BIOL 2912	Honors Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
   BIOL 2207	Genetics	3
   BIOL 2227	Principles of Ecology	3
   BIOL 2297	Research Techniques in Genetics (WI) 1	3
   BIOL 3101	Evolution (F)	3
   BIOL 4396	Advanced Study in Biology (WI)	3
   Chemistry
   Select one of the following:		4
   CHEM 1031 & CHEM 1033	General Chemistry I and General Chemistry Laboratory I
   CHEM 1951 & CHEM 1953	Honors General Chemical Science I and Honors Chemical Science Laboratory I (F)
   Select one of the following:		4
   CHEM 1032 & CHEM 1034	General Chemistry II and General Chemistry Laboratory II
   CHEM 1952 & CHEM 1954	Honors General Chemical Science II and Honors Chemical Science Laboratory II (S)
   Select one of the following:		4
   CHEM 2201 & CHEM 2203	Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Laboratory I
   CHEM 2921 & CHEM 2923	Organic Chemistry for Honors I and Organic Honors Laboratory I (F)
   Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity (EEB) Electives
   Select six of the following, with at least one in each category: 2, 3		18-24
   Ecology
   BIOL 3115	Disturbance Ecology
   BIOL 3244	Experimental Marine Biology (Summer)
   BIOL 3245	Marine Ecology (F)
   BIOL 3254	Animal Behavior (S)
   BIOL 3275	Ecology of Invasive Species (F)
   BIOL 3316	Tropical Marine Biology (F, odd years)
   BIOL 3321	Plant Community Ecology (F)
   BIOL 3335	Life at the Extremes - Polar Biology
   BIOL 3336	Freshwater Ecology (F, even years)
   BIOL 3389	Field Research in Community Ecology (Summer)
   BIOL 4327	Biological Impacts of Global Climate Change (F)
   Evolution
   BIOL 2311	Human Evolution
   BIOL 3114	Evolutionary Ecology (F)
   BIOL 3128	Genomics and Infectious Disease Dynamics (F)
   BIOL 3212	Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
   BIOL 3214	Theoretical Population Genetics
   BIOL 3225	Evolutionary Genetics and Phylogenetics (S)
   BIOL 3232	Behavioral Genetics (F)
   BIOL 3241	Genomics and Evolutionary Biology of Parasites and Other Dependent Species (S)
   BIOL 3403	Genomic Biology
   BIOL 4365	Evolutionary Developmental Biology: Evo-Devo (S)
   Biodiversity
   BIOL 2241	Invertebrate Biology (S)
   BIOL 3243	Parasitology (Not every year)
   BIOL 3307	Conservation Biology (F)
   BIOL 3311	Herpetology (S)
   BIOL 3317	General Microbiology (S)
   BIOL 3322	Biology of Plants (F)
   Mathematics and Quantitative Methods
   MATH 1041	Calculus I	4
   or MATH 1941	Honors Calculus I
   SCTC 1013	Elements of Data Science for the Physical and Life Sciences	3
   Select two of the following Quantitative Methods courses:		6-8
   BIOL 3113	Genome Analytics
   BIOL 3312	Biostatistics (F)
   BIOL 3323	Global Change Science: Analytics with R
   BIOL 3514	Biological Models in Python
   EES 3011	Remote Sensing and GIS
   MATH 1042	Calculus II
   or MATH 1942	Honors Calculus II
   MATH 1044	Introduction to Probability and Statistics for the Life Sciences
   Physics
   Select one of the following:		4
   PHYS 1021	Introduction to General Physics I
   PHYS 1061	Elementary Classical Physics I
   or PHYS 1961	Honors Elementary Classical Physics I
   PHYS 2021	General Physics I
   or PHYS 2921	Honors General Physics I
   Select one of the following:		4
   PHYS 1022	Introduction to General Physics II
   PHYS 1062	Elementary Classical Physics II
   or PHYS 1962	Honors Elementary Classical Physics II
   PHYS 2022	General Physics II
   or PHYS 2922	Honors General Physics II
   Total Credit Hours		74-82

   Course List

   Code	Title	Credit Hours
   (F) - Fall only course
   (S) - Spring only course

   ¹

   This course has a co-requisite of BIOL 2207.

   ²

   Additional course prerequisites may be required.

   ³

   Students may fulfill one upper-level elective by completing a total of 6 credits of research. A maximum of 3 credits may come from the junior level research course BIOL 3082 and the remaining 3 credits must come from a senior level (4000+) research course. Students may also complete all 6 credits using two semesters of the senior research course if they prefer. Research must be appropriate to fulfill one of the upper-level elective categories (Ecology, Evolution, or Biodiversity) and may be used for a maximum of 4 credits toward the elective. Consult with the EEB program advisor to determine 1) which labs are participating, 2) if your research is appropriate for one of the category choices and 3) which research course you should register for. Not all research courses are appropriate for EEB credit. Once 6 hours of research are completed, students must seek approval from a CST advisor to obtain the waiver for credit towards one upper-level elective in the appropriate category.

¹

Additional course prerequisites may be required.

²

Courses in CST and CLA will count towards the College Requirements for overall and upper-level credits in CST, CLA, or ENG.

With the exception noted in footnote 3 above, the research and independent study courses shown below do not count as EEB electives. The research and independent study courses shown below do not count as Biology electives, but they may count as free elective credits toward graduation. Most research courses can only be taken ONCE for a letter grade. Check individual course descriptions for details and/or exceptions.

Note: Grades of C- or higher are required unless otherwise specified in all courses for the major, including course prerequisites. The College of Science and Technology requires that students have a GPA of at least 2.00 overall and at least 2.00 in the courses applicable to their major and/or minor GPA to graduate.

A total of one semester of Biology research courses numbered lower than 4000 (to include: BIOL 2082, BIOL 3082, BIOL 3181, and BIOL 3681) may be taken for a letter grade. Any additional semesters in research courses in this category can be taken only on a CR/NC basis.

Suggested Academic Plan

Please note that this is a suggested academic plan. Depending on your situation, your academic plan may look different.

Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity

Suggested Plan for New Students Starting in the 2024-2025 Academic Year

¹

See the Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity (EEB) Electives list under Requirements for course options. At least one course from each Elective category (Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity) must be selected.

²

Either BIOL 4396 or EEB elective 5 may be completed in the fall term. Whichever is not chosen in the fall must then be completed in the spring term.