Biology

Biology is the study of life, from the molecular level to the whole organism to the global biosphere. Biologists explore all aspects of living systems, and biological discoveries continue to improve human health, food production, and environmental sustainability.

About the Major

This Biology major provides a foundation in biological principles with the largest range of flexibility in electives to explore a variety of biological topics. As a Biology major you learn to identify, alter or manage biological processes from single cells to whole organisms.

Other majors in the Biological Sciences:

Botany Microbiology Biochemistry
Zoology Health & Human Kinetics Neuroscience
Environment & Sustainability Genetics  

Related Minors

Think Big

Every Biology major is encouraged to seek distinctive learning, research, and field experiences. These often take the form of independent study, summer research at OWU or other institutions, summer classes at a biological field station, and internships at hospitals and ecological or agricultural centers.

The OWU Connection Research & Independent Study Summer Science Research

Bumblebee Behavior

Alex Bzdafka '27 (right) studied bumblebee foraging habits during an NSF REU internship.

Found in France

Abigail Colbow '27 reflects on her semester abroad in Cannes, France.

Sizable Research

Avery Panozzo '25 and Ava Swanson '26 studied how house wrens react to predator size.

Saving Honey Bees

Peyton Hardesty '20 helped manage 50+ beehives at Stratford Ecological Center.

Immersed in Italy

Avery Panozzo '25 spends summer studying and exploring in the 'Bel Paese'

Go Global

Travel-Learning Courses provide a unique way to go from theory into practice—and to journey to a distant land and interact with people from other cultures. OWU offers dozens of these courses each year (usually during spring break or at the end of classes in May), and the University covers a substantial portion of the travel costs, lodging, meals, and on-site transportation.

Travel-Learning Courses

Serengeti Safari

Josie Martin '26 joined a Tanzania Travel-Learning Class to explore wildlife and culture.

Conservation Collaboration

Alena Arnold '23 and Jonathan Munroe '24 traveled to Chile for with William Hayes

Brazil

Students studied three Brazilian ecosystems: Manaus, Chapada, and the Pantanal wetlands.

Get Real

Students can receive OWU-funded grants to put theory into practice, in research internships around the world.

Internships Theory-to-Practice Grants

'Super' Opportunity

Abrianna Hite '28 interned in UTI research at Nationwide Children's SUPER Summer Program.

A LEAP Forward

Ebuka Okpalume '27 interned with LEAP to promote disability inclusion in Northeast Ohio.

'Bedazzled Kittycorn'

OWU student's 'bedazzled' internship confirms her interest in a science education career.

Highlights

Field Sites & Greenhouse

Ohio Wesleyan maintains multiple "living labs." At OWU, you'll find a campus arboretum, an herbarium with 16,000 specimens, the Moore Greenhouse with almost 500 specimens from around the world, and two forested nature preserves.

Schimmel/Conrades Science Center

OWU's 150,000-square-foot science center features an array of sophisticated equipment for hands-on use by OWU students. Examples of the technology include digital imaging equipment, 3D printer, fluorescence microscope, scanning transmission electron microscope, and state-of-the-art equipment for molecular biology studies.

More Information

Summer Research

Students have the opportunity to engage full-time in cutting-edge research with faculty mentors at OWU, with free on-campus housing and a generous stipend for 10 weeks in the summer. Students present their findings at an all-college scientific symposium and often at national and international conferences.

Graduate Outcomes

Chandler Carr '24

Chandler is continuing his education at the University of Alberta, pursuing a master's in Comparative Cognitive Psychology. At OWU, Carr studied House Wren nest-building in the Summer Science Research Program.

Graduate Study

Recent biological science grads are attending graduate programs at the following universities: Auburn, Case Western Reserve, Cornell, George Washington, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, and Bren Fellow, Rio de Janeiro.

Diverse Careers

OWU biological science graduates are working around the globe in highly varied fields. Examples of employment include: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chemical Abstracts Service, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Mayo Clinic, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Ohio Seed Improvement Association, and Tiger Optics.

Headlines

Events

A Look at Biology
Kraus Wilderness Preserve— A Saddleback caterpillar at the OWU Kraus Wilderness Preserve.

Kraus Wilderness Preserve

A Saddleback caterpillar at the OWU Kraus Wilderness Preserve.
I³ Lecture by Dr. Laurie Anderson— Rainforests, cloud fountains, and the flying river of Brazil

I³ Lecture by Dr. Laurie Anderson

Rainforests, cloud fountains, and the flying river of Brazil
Field Class— Students organizing soil and biological samples collected from a local stream.

Field Class

Students organizing soil and biological samples collected from a local stream.

Department Contact Info

Location

Schimmel/Conrades Science Center 201
Ohio Wesleyan University
Delaware, OH 43015

P 740-368-3907
F 740-368-3999
E almoore@owu.edu

Department Contacts

Chair: Dustin Reichard
Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences
Schimmel/Conrades Science Center 312
740-368-2890 |  dgreicha@owu.edu

Academic Assistant: Angela Moore
Schimmel/Conrades Science Center 201
740-368-3907 | almoore@owu.edu