动物学系以多种方式组织和介绍他们的教学和研究工作：通过生物组织的层次（从细胞到个体再到种群），相互作用的类型（竞争，捕食，寄生）以及动物的种类或分类（昆虫，鸟类，鱼类）。所有对生物科学（包括动物学）任何领域都感兴趣的学生，都将进入UCSB作为生物科学预科专业。生物学前专业的学生共有一个共同的核心课程，通常在新生和大二年级完成，包括入门级的生物学与实验室，普通化学的实验室，数学（微积分和统计学），物理学的实验室以及许多专业的基础课程。与实验室一起额外的2-3个有机化学术语。动物学专业不需要有机化学。
UCSB's undergraduate program in biology is jointly administered by two academic departments: Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology (EEMB) and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB). Each department offers several specialized majors leading to a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree, and the departments share a general biological sciences major leading to either a B.S. or a B.A. degree. Research and teaching programs cover the full spectrum of biological science from molecular biology and biochemistry to community and ecosystems ecology. Over 150 upper division biology courses are offered to support our majors. These courses include lectures and seminars, laboratory and field studies, and independent studies and group projects.