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, 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 and better understand these connections.

Declaring the minor

The Biology minor has no prerequisites, but students completing the Introductory Biology series (BBIO 180, 200, 220) at UW Bothell must also complete the following:

  • General Chemistry I and II (BCHEM 143, 153) as prerequisites for BBIO 200
  • Preparation for General Chemistry (BCHEM 139) or mathematics at Precalculus I (BMATH 122) level or higher as the prerequisite for BCHEM 143

Contact the academic advisor for your major at any time to declare the Biology minor.

Find your advisor on Navigate

Program requirements

Core requirements (15 credits)

Elective requirements (20 credits)

You must complete at least 20 credits (usually 4 courses) of coursework from the elective lists for the Biology major.

Like the major, you must select your courses from at least two out of three of the following categories:

  • A: Ecology / Biological Diversity / Evolution
  • B: Cellular / Molecular Biology
  • C: Physiology / Neurobiology

The following core courses of the Biology major can count as electives for the Biology minor:

  • BBIO 360 (Genetics) counts as a B-category elective
  • BBIO 466 (Evolution) counts as an A-category elective

Registration

Some Biology courses are restricted to students in the Biology major for registration period 1, but become available to all students from registration period 2 onwards. You can contact the academic advisor for biology for assistance with registration.

Contact the biology advisor

Petitions

Biology-related courses from UW Bothell or elsewhere that are not on the pre-approved elective lists are considered on a case-by-case basis. If you have a syllabus, letter from your instructor, or other detailed description of the class you want to use as an elective, you can submit a petition to request for the course to count.

Submit a Biology Major / Minor Petition

A minimum of 20 credits used for this minor must be taken at UW Bothell, which means that a maximum of 15 credits may be taken elsewhere (including other UW campuses).