The Bachelor of Science (BS) in Natural Sciences provides a broad, customizable program of studies in the sciences, with coursework across multiple disciplines. It prepares students for advanced study or careers in the environmental sciences and the health professions. Graduates of the program have gone on to further study and jobs in a diversity of fields, such as veterinary, medical, and dental schools, and environmental consulting.
Admission Requirements
- Complete the Admission Requirements for Baccalaureate Programs.
- Declare the major (see major requirements) and select one of two options: Pre-health Professions or Environmental Sciences. To declare the BS in Natural Sciences as their major, students must meet with an advisor to be accepted into the major. To schedule an advising session, contact the Department of Biological Sciences. At the advising session students are required to choose one of the two options.
Graduation Requirements
- Complete the General University Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees.
- Complete the General Education Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees.
- It is recommended that mathematical and statistical requirements be completed in the first two years of study.
- No more than 6 credits may come from courses designated as A495, A498 and A499 combined, with no more than 2 credits from A495.
- No more than 2 credits may be A492.
- Courses not listed as approved for the BS in Natural Sciences may be considered by petition, which should be signed by an advisor.
- All prerequisites for courses used to meet the natural sciences degree requirements must be completed with a minimum grade of C. Students who audit a course intended to meet the natural sciences degree requirements or who are unable to earn a minimum grade of C in the course may repeat the course. Students who audit or are unable to earn a minimum grade of C in a lower-division (100- or 200-level) Biology (BIOL) course may repeat the course two additional times on a space-available basis. Students who audit or are unable to earn a minimum grade of C in an upper-division (300- or 400-level) BIOL or Microbiology (MBIO) course may repeat the course one additional time on a space-available basis. Students repeating a BIOL or MBIO course are required to complete all components of that course during the semester in which the course is retaken. When repeating a course with a lecture and laboratory component, both components must be repeated. Students enrolled in a BIOL or MBIO laboratory must attend lab the first week of class or they may be administratively dropped.
- All natural sciences majors are required to take an exit examination, a standardized test of knowledge. There is no minimum score required for graduation. The exam may be completed at the UAA Testing Center and a fee will be charged to students, or as part of BIOL A492.
- Complete the following major requirements with a minimum grade of C:
Environmental Sciences Option
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL A108 | Principles and Methods in Biology | 6 |
| BIOL A271 | Principles of Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL A273 | Experiential Learning: Ecology and Evolution | 4 |
| BIOL A288 | Principles of Evolution | 3 |
| BIOL A492 | Undergraduate Seminar | 1 |
| CHEM A105 & A105L | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM A106 & A106L | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory | 4 |
| ECON A210 | Environmental Economics and Policy | 3 |
| GEOL A115 & A115L | Dangerous Earth and Dangerous Earth Laboratory | 4 |
| GEOG A470 | Environmental Policy and Regulation in Alaska | 3 |
| PHIL A303 | Environmental Ethics | 3 |
| STAT A253 | Applied Statistics for the Sciences | 4 |
| or STAT A307 | Probability and Statistics | |
| Complete 48 elective credits from the following, of which 36 must be upper-division: | 48 | |
| Biology and Microbiology Upper Division | ||
| Complete a minimum of 15 credits from the following: | ||
| Principles of Animal Physiology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Animal Physiology | ||
| Plant Biology | ||
| Comparative Animal Physiology | ||
| Fish Physiology | ||
| Ichthyology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Ichthyology | ||
| Marine Invertebrate Biology | ||
| Marine Mammal Biology | ||
| Plant Diversity and Evolution | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Experiential Learning: Animal Behavior | ||
| Global Climate Change | ||
| Experiential Learning: Bioinformatics | ||
| Wildlife Ecology | ||
| Arctic Environmental Security | ||
| Biogeography | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Tundra and Taiga Ecosystems | ||
| Biological Oceanography | ||
| Marine Biology | ||
| Exploration Ecology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Exploration Ecology Field Study | ||
| Evolutionary Ecology | ||
| Selected Lecture Topics in Biology | ||
| Selected Laboratory Topics in Biology | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Senior Thesis | ||
| Microbial Biology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Microbial Biology | ||
| Microbial Physiology | ||
| Microbial Diversity | ||
| Microbial Ecology | ||
| Geomicrobiology | ||
| Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease | ||
| Geology Upper Division | ||
| Complete a minimum of 15 credits from the following: | ||
| Geological Data Visualization and Analysis | ||
| Sedimentology and Stratigraphy | ||
| Earthquakes and Seismic Hazards | ||
| Earth Resources and Society | ||
| Paleoclimatology | ||
| The Cryosphere | ||
| Geochemistry | ||
| Environmental Geochemistry | ||
| Geologic Field Methods | ||
| Advanced Topics in Geology | ||
| Student Research | ||
| Senior Thesis | ||
| Math and Computational Skills | ||
| Complete a minimum of 12 credits from the following: | ||
| Computer Programming (Languages Vary) | ||
or CSCE A201 | Computer Programming I | |
| Database Systems | ||
| Spatial Data Management | ||
| Spatial Analysis | ||
| Image Analysis | ||
| Calculus I | ||
or MATH A251F | F.A.T. Calculus I | |
| Calculus II | ||
or MATH A252F | F.A.T. Calculus II | |
| Calculus III | ||
| Intermediate Statistics for the Sciences | ||
| Scientific Sampling | ||
| Regression Analysis | ||
| Time Series Analysis | ||
| Social Sciences Upper Division | ||
| Complete a minimum of 6 credits from the following: | ||
| Culture and Ecology | ||
| Cultural Resource Management | ||
| Special Topics in Civic Engagement | ||
| Methods for Public Policy Evaluation | ||
| Public Science Writing | ||
| Geospatial and Cartographic Techniques for the Sciences | ||
| Environmental Sociology | ||
| Total | 90 | |
Pre-Health Professions Option
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL A108 | Principles and Methods in Biology | 6 |
| BIOL A242 | Fundamentals of Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIOL A252 | Principles of Genetics | 3 |
| BIOL A492 | Undergraduate Seminar | 1 |
| CHEM A105 & A105L | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM A106 & A106L | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM A321 | Organic Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM A441 | Principles of Biochemistry I 1 | 3 |
| or MBIO A340 | Microbial Biology | |
| PHYS A123 & A123L | College Physics I and College Physics I Laboratory | 4 |
| PHYS A124 & A124L | College Physics II and College Physics II Laboratory | 4 |
| Complete 54 elective credits from the following, of which 31 must be upper-division: | 54 | |
| Natural Sciences | ||
| Complete a minimum of 21 credits from the following: | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology I | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology I Lab | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology II | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology II Lab | ||
| Introduction to Complexity | ||
| Introductory Microbiology for Health Sciences 2 | ||
| Introductory Microbiology for Health Sciences Laboratory 3 | ||
| Experiential Learning: Cell Biology and Genetics | ||
| Principles of Evolution | ||
| Principles of Animal Physiology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Animal Physiology | ||
| Vertebrate Biology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Vertebrate Biology | ||
| Behavioral Endocrinology | ||
| Neurophysiology | ||
| Comparative Animal Physiology | ||
| Applied Kinesiology and Exercise Physiology | ||
| Sleep and Chronobiology | ||
| Human Genome | ||
| Experiential Learning: Bioinformatics | ||
| Molecular Biology | ||
| Molecular Biology of Cancer | ||
| Experiential Learning: Molecular Biology | ||
| Immunology | ||
| Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates | ||
| Selected Lecture Topics in Biology | ||
| Selected Laboratory Topics in Biology | ||
| Internship in the Biological Sciences | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Human Gross Anatomy | ||
| Quantitative Analysis | ||
| Organic Chemistry II | ||
| Organic Chemistry Laboratory | ||
| Biophysical Chemistry | ||
| Principles of Biochemistry II | ||
| Biochemistry Laboratory | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Experiential Learning: Microbial Biology 3 | ||
| Microbial Physiology | ||
| Host-Microbiome Interactions | ||
| Virology | ||
| Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease | ||
| Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos | ||
| Social Sciences | ||
| Complete a minimum of 15 credits from the following: | ||
| Introduction to Anthropology | ||
| Biological Anthropology | ||
| Culture and Human Biodiversity | ||
| Culture and Health | ||
| Selected Topics in Anthropology | ||
| Principles of Microeconomics | ||
| Principles of Macroeconomics | ||
| Introduction to Environmental Health | ||
| Introduction to Population Health Sciences | ||
| Introduction to Global Health | ||
| Introduction to Epidemiology | ||
| Social and Cultural Determinants of Health | ||
| Senior Seminar: Contemporary Health Policy | ||
| Movement Theory and Motor Development | ||
| Cultural and Psychological Aspects of Health and Physical Activity | ||
| Biomedical Ethics | ||
| Introduction to Psychology | ||
| Death and Dying | ||
| Lifespan Development | ||
| Introduction to Behavior Analysis | ||
| Statistics for Psychology | ||
| Statistics for Psychology Lab | ||
| Research Methods in Psychology | ||
| Research Methods in Psychology Laboratory | ||
| Motivation and Emotion | ||
| Psychopathology | ||
| Sensation and Perception | ||
| Cognitive Psychology | ||
| Personality | ||
| Behavioral Neuroscience | ||
| Social Psychology | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Strategies of Behavior Change | ||
| History of Psychology | ||
| Clinical Psychology | ||
| Evolutionary Psychology | ||
| Psychopathology of Childhood and Adolescence | ||
| Behavioral Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder | ||
| Adult Development and Aging | ||
| Interventions for Challenging Behavior | ||
| Health Psychology | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Math and Computational Skills | ||
| Complete a minimum of 9 credits from the following: | ||
| Applied Calculus for Managerial and Social Sciences | ||
or MATH A251 | Calculus I | |
or MATH A251F | F.A.T. Calculus I | |
| Calculus II | ||
or MATH A252F | F.A.T. Calculus II | |
| Calculus III | ||
| Introduction to Discrete Mathematics | ||
| Fundamentals of Mathematics | ||
| Ordinary Differential Equations | ||
| Introduction to Geometries | ||
| Discrete Methods | ||
| Linear Algebra | ||
| Introduction to Real Analysis | ||
| Introduction to Abstract Algebra | ||
| Introduction to Complex Analysis | ||
| Partial Differential Equations | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Applied Statistics for the Sciences | ||
or STAT A307 | Probability and Statistics | |
| Intermediate Statistics for the Sciences | ||
| Scientific Sampling | ||
| Regression Analysis | ||
| Time Series Analysis | ||
| Total | 89 | |
- 1
If both CHEM A441 and MBIO A340 are taken, one will count as the required course and the other will count as a natural sciences elective.
- 2
Students may not apply BIOL A240 and MBIO A340 toward their natural sciences electives.
- 3
Students may not apply BIOL A240L and MBIO A342 toward their natural sciences electives.
A minimum of 120 credits is required for the degree, of which 39 must be upper-division.
Program Student Learning Outcomes
Students graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences will be able to:
- Design and implement scientific investigations to explore natural phenomena using experimentation, which includes exploration and discovery, and testing ideas (gathering and interpreting data)
- Clearly and accurately communicate scientific ideas, theories, and observations in oral and written forms
- Apply scientific data, concepts, and models to craft interdisciplinary explanations of scientific ideas across two of the natural sciences