Program Description

The Biology Program at Purchase College embodies the excitement of the dramatic advances in this rapidly expanding field. Students actively participate in the life sciences, studying and pursuing research with faculty who are active and accomplished in their fields. Classes are small and instruction is often individual. Independent study and the senior research project allow students to apply their knowledge and skills to meaningful research projects with a faculty mentor. Seniors present their results at our student symposium, and many senior projects have been published.

Students use sophisticated equipment in classes and research projects, including scanning and transmission electron microscopes, fluorescence light microscopes, digital imaging, radioactivity counters, recombinant DNA facilities, a DNA sequencer, a PCR thermocycler, cell- and tissue-culture facilities, ultracentrifuges, environmental chambers, and assorted analytical instruments.

Careers in biology may be pursued from a variety of perspectives, and our majors are well prepared for graduate school, teaching, and careers in high-tech industries. The biology major also provides an excellent preparation for entrance to and success in medical, dental, and veterinary schools, and in other allied health programs.

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

Biology majors may complete either the BA or the BS degree, and may follow their own interests or concentrate in cellular and molecular biology, evolutionary and behavioral biology, bioresearch technology, marine biology and ecology, genetics, microscopy and imaging, or biochemistry. Please visit the Biology site in Academic Programs for complete information.

Representative Courses

General Biology I & II
General Chemistry I & II
Organic Chemistry & II
Genetics
Developmental Biology
Animal Physiology
Microbiology
Vertebrate Zoology
Invertebrate Zoology
Cell Biology
Immunology
Molecular Biology
Transmission Electron Microscopy
   and Cell Ultrastructure
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Imaging and Analytical Microscopy
Cellular and Molecular Techniques
Evolution
Behavior Genetics

Representative Alumni

• Jill Bargonetti-Chavarria ’85, PhD, New York University; award-winning cancer researcher and associate professor of biology, Hunter College, City University of New York
• Elizabeth A. Bundock ’92, MD, PhD, Rosalin Franklin University of Medicine and Science; deputy chief medical examiner, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Vermont Department of Health
• German Garcia-Fresco ’00, PhD, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill; owner of TriangleFiesta, Raleigh, NC
• Mark Jonas ’03, PhD student in ecology and evolution, State University of New York, Stony Brook
• Daniel Pomeranz Krummel ’93, PhD, Yale University; postdoctoral fellow, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (UK)
• Jeremy Luban ’82, MD, Columbia University; associate professor, Departments of Microbiology and Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
• Josh Syken ’95, PhD and research fellow in neurobiology, Harvard Medical School

For more information, visit the Biology site in Academic Programs or e-mail sciences@purchase.edu.

Updated May 8, 2009