Biology B.A. - Natural History
General Degree Requirements
To earn a baccalaureate degree, all students must complete successfully, in addition to any other requirements, the University of Montana General Education Requirements. Please refer to the General Education Requirements page for more information.
Additional requirements for graduation can be found on the Degree/Certificate Requirements for Graduation page.
Unless otherwise noted in individual program requirements, a minimum grade point average of 2.00 in all work attempted at the University of Montana-Missoula is required for graduation. Please see the Academic Policies and Procedures page for information on how your GPA is calculated.
Courses taken to satisfy the requirements of a major, minor, or certificate program must be completed with a grade of C- or better unless a higher grade is noted in the program requirements.
BACHELOR OF ARTS - BIOLOGY; NATURAL HISTORY CONCENTRATION
Degree Specific Credits: 75
The Natural History concentration is designed for students who seek an interdisciplinary science program. This concentration is not research-oriented and is not considered a preparatory program for traditional research-based graduate programs. It is, however, designed for students seeking careers in environmental education, science writing or illustration, natural history or wildlife film-making, or natural history centers or museums. There is enough latitude in the requirements to allow for a minor or even a double major in a related field of interest (e.g. journalism, art, media arts, etc.).
The lower-division core should be completed before attempting most upper-division major courses. AP Biology credit with a score of 3 may be substituted for either BIOB 160 /BIOB 161NorBIOB 170N/BIOB 171N.
Course Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Biology/Microbiology Lower-Division Core | ||
| Complete all of the following courses: | ||
| BIOB 160 | Principles of Living Systems | 3 |
| BIOB 161N | Principles of Living Systems Lab | 1 |
| BIOB 170N | Principles of Biological Diversity | 3 |
| BIOB 171N | Principles of Biological Diversity Lab | 2 |
| BIOB 260 | Cellular and Molecular Biology | 4 |
| BIOB 272 | Genetics and Evolution | 4 |
| Upper-Division Core Courses Required by Natural History Concentration | ||
| Complete one of the following Ecology courses: | 5 | |
| Field Ecology | ||
| General Ecology and General Ecology Lab (equivalent to 271) | ||
| Complete all of the following courses: | ||
| BIOE 406 | Behavior & Evolution | 4 |
| BIOO 320 | General Botany | 5 |
| BIOO 335 | Rocky Mountain Flora | 4 |
| BIOO 462 | Entomology | 4 |
| BIOO 470 | Ornithology | 4 |
| or BIOO 475 | Mammalogy | |
| Chemistry and Earth Sciences | ||
| Complete all of the following courses: | ||
| CHMY 121N | Introduction to General Chemistry | 4 |
| CHMY 123 | Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry | 4 |
| CHMY 124 | Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry Lab | 2 |
| ERTH 101N | Earth Systems Science | 3 |
| ERTH 103N | Earth Systems Science Lab | 1 |
| Cognate Electives 1 | ||
| Complete 20 credits in the following disciplines, with a maximum of 10 credits in any one discipline: | 20 | |
Anthropology (ANTY) | ||
Astronomy (ASTR) | ||
Geography (GPHY) | ||
Geology (GEO) | ||
Forestry/Natural Resource Management (FORS/NRSM) | ||
Mathematics/Statistics (M/STAT) | ||
Physics (PHSX) | ||
Wildlife Biology (WILD) | ||
| Total Hours | 77 | |
- 1
Students interested in combining the Natural History concentration with another subject area may, with the advisor's permission, substitute 10 credits in English - writing, journalism, photography, art, modern & classical language, business management, or other appropriate field.