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.
- File a preliminary program of study with the Department of Biological Sciences.
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.
- It is strongly recommended that any changes to the preliminary program be reviewed by an advisor to ensure that the final program of study will meet all requirements for graduation.
- Students must submit a final Program of Study-Natural Sciences Degree form signed by their advisor to both the Office of the Registrar and the Department of Biological Sciences during the semester prior to the semester in which they plan to graduate. All courses listed in the form must be approved by the formal advisor before submitting the form to the Office of the Registrar and the Department of Biological Sciences.
- 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 course may repeat the course one additional time on a space-available basis. Students repeating a BIOL 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 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 | Environmental Geology and Environmental Geology 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 | |
| Select 48 credits of degree electives, of which 36 must be upper-division credits, from the following course lists. | 48 | |
| Biology and Microbiology Upper Division | ||
| Complete a minimum of 15 credits from the following: | ||
| Principles of Animal Physiology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Animal Physiology | ||
| Principles of Plant Physiology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Plant Physiology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Plant Biology | ||
| Comparative Animal Physiology | ||
| Fish Physiology | ||
| Ichthyology | ||
| Marine Invertebrate Biology | ||
| Marine Mammal Biology | ||
| Plant Diversity and Evolution | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Experiential Learning: Animal Behavior | ||
| Wildlife Ecology | ||
| Arctic Environmental Security | ||
| Biogeography | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Tundra and Taiga Ecosystems | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 CS A110 | Java Programming | |
or CSCE A201 | Computer Programming I | |
| Database Systems | ||
| GIS and Remote Sensing for Natural Resources | ||
| Spatial Data Management | ||
| Spatial Analysis | ||
| Image Analysis | ||
| Calculus I | ||
| Calculus II | ||
| Calculus III | ||
| Intermediate Statistics for the Sciences | ||
| Scientific Sampling | ||
| Regression Analysis | ||
| Analysis of Variance | ||
| Time Series Analysis | ||
| Multivariate Statistics | ||
| Social Sciences Upper Division | ||
| Complete a minimum of 6 credits from the following: | ||
| Culture and Ecology | ||
| Cultural Resource Management | ||
| Special Topics in Civic Engagement | ||
| Civic Engagement Leadership Capstone | ||
| Natural Resource Economics | ||
| 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 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 |
| 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 57 credits of degree electives, of which a minimum of 31 must be upper-division, from the following course lists: | 57 | |
| Natural Sciences | ||
| Complete a minimum of 24 credits from the following: | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology I and Human Anatomy and Physiology I Lab | ||
| Human Anatomy and Physiology II and Human Anatomy and Physiology II Lab | ||
| Introduction to Complexity | ||
| Introductory Microbiology for Health Sciences and Introductory Microbiology for Health Sciences Laboratory | ||
| Microbial Biology and Experiential Learning: Microbial Biology | ||
| Fundamentals of Cell Biology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Cell Biology and Genetics | ||
| Principles of 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 | ||
| Metals in Biology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Molecular Biology | ||
| Immunology | ||
| Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates | ||
| Population Genetics and Evolutionary Processes | ||
| Selected Lecture Topics in Biology | ||
| Selected Laboratory Topics in Biology | ||
| Internship in the Biological Sciences | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Human Gross Anatomy | ||
| Quantitative Analysis | ||
| Organic Chemistry I | ||
| Organic Chemistry II | ||
| Organic Chemistry Laboratory | ||
| Biophysical Chemistry | ||
| Principles of Biochemistry I | ||
| Principles of Biochemistry II | ||
| Biochemistry Laboratory | ||
| Undergraduate Seminar | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Microbial Physiology | ||
| Microbial Biotechnology | ||
| 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 | ||
| Core Concepts in the Health Sciences | ||
| Introduction to Global Health | ||
| Introduction to Epidemiology | ||
| Medical Sociology | ||
| 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 | ||
| Abnormal Psychology | ||
| 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 | ||
| Developing Psychological Research | ||
| Medical Sociology | ||
| 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 | |
| Calculus II | ||
| Calculus III | ||
| Introduction to Discrete Mathematics | ||
| Fundamentals of Mathematics | ||
| Ordinary Differential Equations | ||
| Introduction to Geometries | ||
| Discrete Methods | ||
| Linear Algebra | ||
| Stochastic Processes | ||
| Introduction to Real Analysis | ||
| Introduction to Abstract Algebra | ||
| Mathematical Statistics | ||
| Introduction to Complex Analysis | ||
| Partial Differential Equations | ||
| Selected Topics in Mathematics | ||
| Individual Research | ||
| Applied Statistics for the Sciences | ||
or STAT A307 | Probability and Statistics | |
| Intermediate Statistics for the Sciences | ||
| Scientific Sampling | ||
| Regression Analysis | ||
| Analysis of Variance | ||
| Time Series Analysis | ||
| Multivariate Statistics | ||
| Total | 80 | |
A minimum of 120 credits is required for the degree, of which 39 credits 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