Minor in Biology
Biology is a well-established field of study that spans vastly different levels of organization, space, and time: from molecules to ecosystems, and from nanoseconds to billions of years. Undergraduate study of Biology will help you to better understand both humans and the natural world, and helps to position you for employment opportunities in research, teaching, healthcare and medicine, environmental science, or biotechnology.
The Biology Minor offers students who are not majoring in Biology an opportunity to delve more deeply into the field. Many areas of study intersect with biology, from other natural sciences (chemistry, physics, environmental science, climate science) to computer science, mathematics, and engineering, and disciplines outside the STEM fields (business, education, ethics, environmental studies). The Minor in Biology allows students majoring in these and other areas to explore biology in greater depth, to better understand these connections.
Admissions and prerequisites
This minor has no prerequisites. Once you have entered an undergraduate major program, please contact the academic advisor for your major for assistance in adding the Biology minor.
Introductory Biology II (BBIO 200; offered winter/spring) has prerequisites of General Chemistry I and II (BCHEM 143 in autumn/winter and BCHEM 153 in winter/spring), so you need to plan your schedule carefully.
Program requirements
Core requirements - 15 credits
You must take all three of these courses. Equivalent Introductory Biology sequences from other institutions intended for Biology majors are also accepted.
- B BIO 180 - Introductory Biology I (5 cr)
- B BIO 200 - Introductory Biology II (5 cr)
- B BIO 220 - Introductory Biology III (5 cr)
Elective requirements - 20 credits
You must take at least 20 credits of coursework from the Elective list for the Biology major.
Like the major, you must take courses from at least two out of three of the following categories:
- A - Ecology/Diversity/Evolution
- B - Cellular/Molecular Biology
- C - Physiology/Neurobiology
For the purposes of the minor, B BIO 360 (Genetics) counts as an B-category elective, and B BIO 466 (Evolution) counts as an A-category elective.
Note: No more than 15 credits of this minor may be taken at institutions other than UW Bothell.
Petitions
Biology coursework that is not included on the above lists is considered on a case-by-case basis. If you have a syllabus or other detailed descriptive material for the class you wish to substitute, you may visit our forms page to submit a petition.
Before taking a class or submitting a petition, please check in with School of STEM advising at stemadv@uw.edu.