The department offers four distinct undergraduate programs which lead to a Bachelor of Science. These majors are biology, cell and molecular biology, microbiology, and biology with a concentration in ecology and environmental biology. The department encourages undergraduate students to work with professors in research laboratories and projects to obtain first-hand information about research in the life sciences. Opportunities are available in many fields, including systematics and evolutionary biology, ecology and environmental biology, cell and molecular biology, and several areas of biotechnology. These research programs have been well received in the past and have proved beneficial to both students and faculty. Students who have been involved in the research projects have received competitive grants, presented papers at scientific meetings, authored papers published in scientific journals, and progressed to become successful medical doctors, college professors, etc. Students should contact faculty members with whom they will conduct research prior to advisement.