OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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We prepare students to succeed in diverse fields through broad, interdisciplinary training in the life sciences.
OSU-Cascades offers a bachelor of science degree in biology. Issues and advances in areas such as biotechnology, environmental science, medicine and other fields continually emphasize the importance of biology and biologists in the future of our country and the world. The biology program prepares students for diverse fields through broad, interdisciplinary training in the life sciences. You'll have access to world-class faculty and undergraduate research opportunities. This major is also ideal for students who are looking to continue from undergraduate into professional/medical programs.
Post-baccalaureate students who are interested in biology need to check the Admission Criteria for Post-Bacc Students from OSU's College of Science.
Undergraduate Degree
Bachelor of Science in Biology
The biology minor includes a required introductory biology sequence with chemistry prerequisite or corequisite. A C- or better in the BI 2xx series is required to complete the minor. A series of general chemistry, through CH 123 or CH 233 and CH 263, is required for some of the listed courses.
The list of courses and course options can be found here.
When Maddie Moss '20 was in high school, she job shadowed a pharmacist in an intensive care unit at a hospital in Portland. That was it for her. She knew what she wanted to do. Now enrolled in the Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University Doctor of Pharmacy program – Maddie is on her way. “The one-to-one, personalized education at OSU-Cascades helped me feel so prepared for the pharmacy program,” she said. In addition to earning a Pharm.D. degree, Maddie is dually enrolled in OSU’s Master of Business Administration program. Soon – she’ll have high school students shadowing her.
Biotech in Bend is growing. It’s an industry that needs interns and skilled employees. Numerous OSU-Cascades graduates — many of them biology majors — have found jobs at Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Bend site, where experts turn insoluble compounds into soluble compounds that can help improve human health. OSU-Cascades alumni work at Thermo Fisher Scientific as formulation scientists, analytical development scientists, quality control scientists, human resources coordinators and biostatistics scientists. In partnership with OSU-Cascades, Thermo Fisher Scientific also offers internships for biology students interested in laboratory science.
Originally from Wisconsin, Brittnye Freeberg '19 is the first in her family to attend college. The mother of three was working at a convenience store in Bend and under the stress of the housing crunch when she decided to pursue a bachelor's degree for better job security. At OSU-Cascades, she found her calling in the lab — as a Layman Fellow she examined tent caterpillar plant detoxification and resistance to anesthesia in fruit flies. Brittnye interned as a lab tech with Lonza Pharma and Biotech and after graduation accepted a full-time position at Lonza as a product development scientist.
Introduction to Human Anatomy & Physiology
Genetics
Disease Ecology
Molecular Medicine
General Biochemistry
Organic Chemistry
General Physics
Aquatic Entomology
Ecology
Cell and Molecular Biology
Environmental Physiology
Microbiology
Biodiversity: Causes, Consequences, and Conservation
Vertebrate Biology
We're here to help! Future students can connect with an OSU-Cascades admissions advisor for admission and program questions.
