Biological Sciences Major, BS – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Concentration

The biological sciences major offers concentrations in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology; ecology and evolutionary biology; and microbiology.

Continuing, returning, and transfer students must meet progression requirements before declaring a major in biological sciences.

To declare biological sciences as a major, students must have an overall GPA of 2.0, be in good academic standing and have completed CHEM 122 *-CHEM 123 * and CHEM 132 *-CHEM 133 * and BIOL 150 * or BIOL 113 * with a minimum grade of C. Although the completion of either BIOL 113 *-BIOL 114 *-BIOL 115 or BIOL 150 *-BIOL 160 *-BIOL 159 * are permissible as prerequisites to the major, the faculty encourage students to take BIOL 150 *-BIOL 160 *-BIOL 159 *, particularly if they are pre-professional students.

College Requirements

Arts and Sciences

Prerequisites

A minimum grade of C must be earned in all prerequisites.

Note:

MATH 132 *-MATH 142 *, MATH 141 *-MATH 142 * or MATH 151 *-MATH 152 * can be used to satisfy ecology and evolutionary biology requirements. However, MATH 132 *-MATH 142 *, or MATH 141 *-MATH 142 * is recommended for students with a strong interest in quantitative ecology and is prerequisite to several courses that satisfy the ecology and evolutionary biology quantitative requirement.

EEB Concentration

The concentration consists of 32 hours.

I. Quantitative Requirement

Select two courses, including one course from list A and one additional course from either list A or B. Note that course prerequisites are listed in parentheses.

A. Select one course:

EEB 406 - Models in Biology 3 Credit Hours *
EEB 411 - Biostatistics 3 Credit Hours *
EEB 475 - Mathematical Biology for Non-Math People 3 Credit Hours *
EEB 476 - Theoretical Ecology and its Applications 3 Credit Hours *

B. Select one course:

BAS 320 - Regression Modeling 3 Credit Hours
MATH 231 - Differential Equations I 3 Credit Hours (MATH 141 *-MATH 142 *)
MATH 251 - Matrix Algebra I 3 Credit Hours (MATH 141 *-MATH 142 *)
STAT 201 - Introduction to Statistics 3 Credit Hours *
STAT 251 - Probability and Statistics for Scientists and Engineers 3 Credit Hours

II. Upper-Division Courses

A total of 26 hours is required from the courses listed below, and in section III. Fifteen of these hours must be EEB courses, including two field or lab emphasis courses (courses designated below with ^). Additionally, all majors must take EEB 409 or EEB 490 . Up to two-credit hours of EEB 490 can count toward the major. EEB 305 *, EEB 306 , and EEB 413 are not allowed for credit in the concentration. Other courses, related to the student’s determined interests, may be approved by petition to the department and the division. Courses applied to the major must include at least 4 hours at the 400-level.

EEB 304 - Socio-Economic Impact of Plants 3 Credit Hours
EEB 310 - Evolution, Disease, and Medicine 3 Credit Hours *
EEB 311 - Career and Professional Development 1 Credit Hours
EEB 330 - Field Botany 3 Credit Hours ^
EEB 351 - Field Mycology 4 Credit Hours ^
EEB 353 - Comparative Vertebrate Biology 4 Credit Hours ^
EEB 370 - Evolutionary Psychology and Ethology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 400 - Undergraduate Research 1-2 Credit Hours
EEB 401 - Natural History Collections Research 1 Credit Hours
EEB 403 - The Evolution of Cancer: An Integrative Approach 3 Credit Hours
EEB 404 - Ecosystem Ecology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 405 - Ecosystem Ecology Laboratory 2 Credit Hours ^
EEB 406 - Models in Biology 3 Credit Hours (may be used to satisfy either Quantitative Requirement or Upper-Division course hours) *
EEB 407 - Senior Honors Thesis 3 Credit Hours
EEB 409 - Perspectives in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 410 - Ecological and Evolutionary Developmental Biology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 411 - Biostatistics 3 Credit Hours *
EEB 412 - Environmental Toxicology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 414 - Plant Anatomy 3 Credit Hours ^
EEB 415 - Field Ecology 4 Credit Hours ^ *
EEB 419 - Global Change Ecology 3 Credit Hours *
EEB 420 - Fungal Diversity 3 Credit Hours
EEB 422 - Landscape Ecology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 423 - Conservation Decision Making 3 Credit Hours
EEB 424 - Plant Diversity and Evolution 3 Credit Hours ^
EEB 425 - Communicating the Science of Climate Change Biology 3 Credit Hours *
EEB 426 - Plant-Animal Interactions 3 Credit Hours
EEB 430 - Invasion Biology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 432 - Conservation Genomics 3 Credit Hours
EEB 433 - Plant Ecology 3 Credit Hours ^ *
EEB 435 - Ecophysiology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 444 - Diversity of Tennessee Fishes 4 Credit Hours
EEB 450 - Comparative Animal Behavior 3 Credit Hours
EEB 451 - Research Ethics 3 Credit Hours *
EEB 454 - Animal Communication 3 Credit Hours
EEB 459 - Comparative Animal Behavior Laboratory 3 Credit Hours ^
EEB 461 - Special Topics in Organismal Biology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 464 - Macroevolution 3 Credit Hours
EEB 465 - Special Topics in Ecology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 466 - Special Topics in Evolution 3 Credit Hours
EEB 469 - Special Topics in Conservation Biology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 471 - Aquatic Macroecology and Conservation 4 Credit Hours *
EEB 473 - Herpetology 3 Credit Hours ^
EEB 474 - Diversity, Ecology, and Evolution of Fishes 4 Credit Hours ^
EEB 475 - Mathematical Biology for Non-Math People 3 Credit Hours (may be used to satisfy either EEB Quantitative Requirement or EEB Upper-Division course hours) *
EEB 476 - Theoretical Ecology and its Applications 3 Credit Hours (may be used to satisfy either EEB Quantitative Requirement or EEB Upper-Division course hours) *
EEB 480 - Natural History of the Smoky Mountains 3 Credit Hours
EEB 481 - Avian Diversity 3 Credit Hours
EEB 484 - Conservation Biology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 485 - Ethnobiology: Theory and Methods 3 Credit Hours
EEB 490 - Undergraduate Seminar 1 Credit Hours
EEB 492 - Off-Campus Internship in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 1-9 Credit Hours
EEB 493 - Independent Study 1-9 Credit Hours
EEB 495 - Evolutionary Ecology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 496 - Special Topics Seminars 1 Credit Hours
FWF 422R - Rare Species Biology, Conservation and Management 3 Credit Hours

III. Remaining Hours

Besides the required EEB courses, students may count either BIOL 240 - General Genetics or BIOL 220 - General Microbiology toward the concentration, as well as any of the following courses:

ANTH 490 - Primate Evolution 3 Credit Hours
ANTH 494 - Primate Behavior 3 Credit Hours *
BCMB 311 - Advanced Cellular Biology 3 Credit Hours
BCMB 401 - Biochemistry I 4 Credit Hours
BCMB 412 - Molecular Biology and Genomics 4 Credit Hours
BCMB 423 - Neural Basis of Behavior 3 Credit Hours
CHEM 260 - Foundations of Organic Chemistry 3 Credit Hours or
CHEM 268 - Honors: Foundations of Organic Chemistry 3 Credit Hours
CHEM 359 - In-depth Organic Chemistry Laboratory 1 Credit Hours
CHEM 360 - In-depth Organic Chemistry 3 Credit Hours or
CHEM 368 - Honors: In-depth Organic Chemistry 3 Credit Hours
EEB 205 - Theory and Methods in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 3 Credit Hours *
FORS 414 - Tree Physiology 3 Credit Hours
GEOG 430 - Global Environments of the Quaternary 3 Credit Hours
GEOG 431 - Environmental History from Lake Sediments 3 Credit Hours
GEOG 432 - Environmental History from Tree Rings 4 Credit Hours
GEOG 435 - Biogeography 3 Credit Hours
GEOG 439 - Plants, People, and Climate in North America 3 Credit Hours
GEOL 320 - Paleobiology 4 Credit Hours
GEOL 455 - Environmental Geology 3 Credit Hours
GEOL 459 - Introduction to Oceanography 3 Credit Hours
MICR 321 - Advanced Microbiology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 411 - Microbial Genetics 3 Credit Hours
MICR 470 - Microbial Ecology 3 Credit Hours
WFS 401 - Ecology and Management of Wildlife Health 3 Credit Hours
WFS 433 - Amphibian Ecology and Conservation 3 Credit Hours
WFS 444 - Ecology and Management of Wild Mammals 3 Credit Hours
WFS 445 - Ecology and Management of Wild Birds 3 Credit Hours
WFS 450 - Fish Physiology 3 Credit Hours

Honors Option – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Concentration

Requirements for the honors option are:

fulfill all requirements for the major in biological sciences with a concentration in ecology and evolutionary biology
achieve at least a grade of B in the upper-division concentration courses
maintain a concentration GPA of at least 3.5
maintain an overall GPA of at least 3.25
complete 9 hours of honors-by-contract coursework from EEB 400 , EEB 490 , EEB 492 , EEB 493 and other upper-division ecology and evolutionary biology courses available for major credit in the concentration
complete EEB 407 Senior Honors Thesis with thesis to be approved by student’s committee.

* Meets Volunteer Core Requirements .

Undergraduates

Graduate Students