Students in the marine biology major spend time on the Eugene campus and at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. In Eugene, students take introductory biology courses and fulfill chemistry, mathematics, physics, and general education requirements. Upper-division biology courses are taken at OIMB, and the marine biology major requires students to spend a minimum of three terms at the OIMB campus in Charleston.
Courses are offered at OIMB during spring, summer, and fall terms. The OIMB campus has dorms and a dining hall to accommodate students.
For more information on the marine biology major at the University of Oregon, please contact Maya Watts.
Course Requirements
Residency and grade requirements: Twenty-four credit hours of biology applied to the major must be taken at the University of Oregon. All Biology (BI prefix) courses used to meet the major requirements must be passed with a C-, P, or better.
Chemistry, Math, Physics, and MAPS (Modeling, Analysis, Programming & Statistics)
These courses are offered at the Eugene campus.
Subjects | Courses |
|---|---|
General Chemistry | CH 221,222,223 or CH 224H, 225H, 226H (12 cr) |
General Chemistry Lab | CH 227, 228, 229 or CH 237,238,239 (6 cr) |
Organic Chemistry | CH 331 |
Calculus for the Biological Sci or Calculus | MATH 246, 247 or 251, 252 (8 cr) |
MAPS | see #4 below (4 cr) |
General or Foundation of Physics | PH 201 and 202 or 251 and 252 (8 cr) |
Lower-division Biology
These courses are offered at the Eugene campus.
Option A: Biology Honors Sequence
Enrollment required C-, P, or better in CH 223, CH 226H, or equivalent and MATH 111 or higher. (You do not need this sequence to apply for 224H) Marine Biology Honors.)
- BI 281H Cells, Biochemistry, & Physiology (5 cr)
- BI 282H Genetics & Molecular Biology (5 cr)
- BI 283H Evolution, Diversity & Ecology (5 cr)
Option B: General Biology Sequence
Enrollment required C- or better in college-level chemistry lecture course (CH 111, 113, 221, 224H)
- BI 211 Cells (4 cr)
- BI 212 Organisms (4 cr)
- BI 213 Populations (4 cr)
- BI 214 Mechanisms (4 cr)
Upper-division Biology
Complete a minimum of 44 upper-division biology credits including 1, 2, and 3 below.
1. At least one course completed from Areas I, II, and III.
Offered at the Eugene campus unless noted at OIMB.
Area I: Cellular/Molecular
- BI 320 Molecular Genetics (4 cr)
- BI 322 Cell Biology (4 cr)
- BI 326 Immunology & Infectious Disease (4 cr)
- BI 328 Developmental Biology (4 cr)
- BI 360 Neurobiology (4 cr)
- BI 457 Molecular Marine Biology (OIMB only, fall) (5 cr)
- BI 457 Cell Physiology (OIMB only, fall) (5 cr)
Area II: Systems/Organisms
- BI 330 & 331 Microbiology & Lab (6 cr)
- BI 353 Sensory Physiology (4 cr)
- BI 356 Animal Physiology (5 cr)
- BI 359 Plant Biology (4 cr)
- BI 399 Visual Systems (4 cr)
- BI 451 Invertebrate Zoology (OIMB only, spring and summer) (8 cr)
Area III: Ecology/Evolution
- BI 357 Marine Biology (4 cr)
- BI 370 Ecology (5 cr)
- BI 374 Conservation Biology (4 cr)
- BI 380 Evolution (4 cr)
- BI 390 Animal Behavior (4 cr)
- BI 395 Tropical Ecology (4 cr)
- BI 474 Marine Ecology (OIMB only, spring) (5 cr)
2. Three terms of full time (at least 12 credits) enrollment in courses at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.
Courses are offered spring, summer and fall terms and students may arrange research or internship credits during any term.
Restrictions:
- Up to 4 credits of BI 408 OIMB Summer Workshops may be applied to the 44-credit upper-division biology requirement.
- BI 357 Marine Biology may not be taken for credit after credit is received for either BI 458 Biological Oceanography or BI 474 Marine Ecology.
3. At least 12 credits with a BI prefix numbered 420 to 499.
A list of the 400-level courses offered at OIMB each term can be found here.
4. MAPS (Modeling, Analysis, Programming, and Statistics)
One course required out of:
- BI 399 Sp St Experimental Design & Statistics (at OIMB)
- BI 399 Computational Genomics
- BI 399 Intro Phyton Bio
- BI 399 Dyn Modelin Bio
- BI 410 Introduction to Programming for Biologists
- BI 410 Ecological Field Methods
- BI 410 Matlab for Biologists
- BI 410 Data Visualization
- BI 410 Stochastic Mod Bio
- BI 471 Population Ecology
- BI 485 Techniques in Computational Neuroscience
- ANTH 470 Statistical Analysis of Biological Anthropology
- ERTH 418 Earth & Environmental Data Analysis
- MATH 410 Machine Learn & Memory
- MATH 425 Statistical Methods I
Limitations within the 44 Credit Upper-division Requirement
BI 403 Thesis, BI 405 Reading, BI 406 Practicum, BI 407 Seminar, BI 408 Workshops, BI 409 Capstone, and BI 410 Experimental Course qualify for general University of Oregon upper-division credit but cannot be applied to the 44-credit upper-division requirement for the marine biology major.
BI 401 Research or BI 402 Supervised College Teaching: A maximum of 4 credits of BI 401 Research and/or BI 402 Supervised College Teaching may be applied to the 44-credit upper-division biology requirement provided that:
- Prior to enrolling in BI 401 or 402, a proposal is written and approved by a faculty sponsor and
- After the work is completed, an approved written journal or report is submitted to the faculty sponsor.
Upper-division 300-level Courses
These courses are open to students who have taken BI 211, BI 212, and BI 213. Some courses may have additional prerequisites; please see the UO course catalog.
- BI 307 Forest Biology
- BI 357 Marine Biology
- BI 370 Ecology
- BI 374 Conservation Biology
- BI 380 Evolution
- BI 390 Animal Behavior
- BI 395 Tropical Ecology