Toxicology - Major

The Bachelor of Science in toxicology degree is comprised of four tiers:

Tier I is a three-semester introductory biological systems course that is the foundation of the toxicology major and includes a survey of topics in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, evolution, organism diversity, the structure and foundation of multicellular organisms, and populations, community, and ecosystem ecology.

Tier II centers on the three major levels of toxicological investigation:  the cell, the organism, and ecology.  Students take three advanced toxicology courses, one at each level of investigation, beginning with principles of toxicology (organismal) and proceeding to ecotoxicology (ecology) and cellular toxicology (cellular).

Tier III focuses on the selection of one of these three investigation levels as a track in which to specialize.  Students select two additional advanced biology and/or chemistry electives within their track.

Tier IV is comprised of 1) an introduction to scientific research course, 2) a three-semester capstone seminar that emphasizes students’ integration of diverse toxicological and biological sub-disciplines, planning and implementing an original laboratory, field-based, or library-intensive research project, and formal presentation of research papers and 3) a toxicology comprehensive examination.

Additionally, students take two years of chemistry (one year of introductory chemistry and one year of organic chemistry), one year of mathematics (one semester of calculus plus one semester of statistics), one year of physics, and six liberal arts courses.

All biology and toxicology courses for the major programs must be completed with a grade of C- or better to satisfy the program requirements.