The UMD Biology Department
Biology is one of the largest programs in the Swenson College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth, with over 700 undergraduate students, 50 active graduate students, and 22 full-time faculty members.

For prospective undergraduates we offer B.S. degrees in Biology and Cell and Molecular Biology. We also serve students seeking a B.A. degree in Biology through the College of Liberal Arts and students in the College of Education and Human Service Professions seeking the B.A.S. in Life Science Teaching. For prospective graduate students, the Integrated Biosciences graduate program offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

Biology faculty are actively involved in research supported by over $8 million in external grants. This allows us to offer all qualified undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in faculty research. The Department of Biology is housed in a new 130,000 square foot state-of-the-art research/teaching laboratory facility.

News

Congratulations to the following biology students who were awarded Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) awards for Summer and Fall 2009.

• Expression and Purification of MspB from M. xanthus, Michael Bambenek (Dahl)
• Range Expansion of the Invasive Round Goby into Lake Superior, Tim Cyr (Mensinger)
• River Dispersal of an Invasive Species: Downstream Transport of the Spiny Water Flea, Ben Heggestad (Shannon)
• The Rescue of Neural Tube Defects Using Folic Acid, Catherine Johnson (Liang)
• Identification of sporulation genes in M. xanthus, Jesse Klingelhoets (Dahl)
• Induction of Torpor by FGF21: Heart Rate, Body Temperature, and Physical Activity in the Thirteen-Line Ground Squirrel, Eli Narveson (Andrews)
• Functional Domains Study of Conserved Cysteine Residues of the SPE-42 Protein in Caenorhabditis elegans, Ben Polgreen (Kroft)
• Round Goby Range Expansion into Tributary Streams of the Duluth-Superior Harbor and St. Louis River Estuary, Kyle Staples (Mensinger)
• Speciation in a Gall-Inducing Fly, Lee Stokes (Craig)
• Differential gene expression associated with a shift from carbohydrate-based to lipid-based metabolism in the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, Sarah Timm (Andrews)

The UMD Market Day in the Plaza is held every Wednesday from 2-4:30pm until Sept. 30 at the Kirby Bus Hub. Market Day in the Plaza features the Farmer's Market, live music and artist's booths.

Congratulations to all of the recipients of the 2008-09 Department of Biology scholarships and awards!

Congratulations to biology major Natalia Hart who has been selected as a 2009-2010 Raymond W. Darland All-American Scholarship recipient. The scholarship program was established by Regent Emeritus Richard L. Griggs in honor of Provost Emeritus Raymond W. Darland. Scholarship criteria are academic achievement and leadership contributions to UMD.

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Biology Seminars

Thank you for attending the 2008-09 seminar series.

Regularly scheduled biology seminars will start again in September.

9/11/09
The first speaker of the 2009-2010 seminar series will be Dr. Patrick Redig, Professor and Director of the UM Raptor Center. Dr. Redig is also the keynote speaker during Hawk Ridge Weekend.

 

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