Biology, as its etymological roots indicate, is the study of life. As such, it a field that is as diverse as it is exciting. Students completing one of the undergraduate degrees offered in our department will finish well poised to pursue career opportunities, graduate studies, as well as a wide variety of professional career paths such as medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. Regardless of your chosen career path, our faculty and advisors here at Texas Tech are dedicated to your success through educational excellence. Choosing one of the majors we offer is an excellent choice for many Texas Tech students. Our degrees not only provide an exceptional segue into fulfilling careers in science and medicine, but also our curriculum broadly provides the intrinsically valuable educational knowledge and experience that only a liberal arts degree in natural science can provide. 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.<br><br>In this degree, you will study microorganisms and their effects on other living organisms. This includes studying organisms like fungi, bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms.