OVERVIEW: General Introduction to the Department

It is now widely recognized that the Life Sciences are growing more in the 21st century than other sciences. Whether it's deciphering genomes, dealing with ecological crises, investigating life from the deepsea to rainforests, analyzing adaptations of organisms, or making medical advances, the efforts of biologists are in the news every day, widening our understanding of the natural world and human interactions and survival in that world.

Whitman Biology students and faculty at the 13th Annual Murdock Undergraduate Science Research conference, Portland, Nov. 2004.

To prepare our graduates for all careers in the Life Sciences, the Biology major at Whitman College offers a well-rounded degree with coursework covering all the major areas of biology, from the molecular to the ecological. All courses are integrated with modern molecular and evolutionary concepts. The senior year requires a research thesis and comprehensive exams (click Policies and Requirements link here or above). Our students leave Whitman fully prepared to go into any biologically related graduate program, medicine and other health fields, laboratory and administrative positions at biotechnology companies, business and law school, and teaching. And they are prepared to enter the world in any other field as scientifically literate thinkers. In addition to our comprehensive Biology degree, we also offer combined degrees in other Life Science areas: Biology-Geology Biology-Environmental Studies Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (BBMB: molecular/genomics sciences). Oceanography/Biology: joint 5-year program with University of Washington Forestry and Environmental Management: joint 5-year program with Duke University Individual students have designed their own majors in such areas as: Biology-Psychology, Astronomy-Biology, and Bioethics. SEE Policies and Requirement section for major requirements.

2006: Senior Ray Andrell spends 6 weeks on the Atlantis and dives in the Alvin to collect specimens for his senior research (click for news story)

Faculty and Staff -- Whitman College Biology Department. Current Chair = GINGER WITHERS NOTE: to reduce spam email, *AT* has been inserted into email addresses below. REPLACE THIS with the @ symbol for emailing Heidi E. M. Dobson, Ph.D.; Associate Professor; botany and plant/animal interactions:   dobsonhe*AT*whitman.edu; Kendra Golden, Ph.D., Associate Professor; microbiology, cell biology, nutrition: golden*AT*whitman.edu Martha Holt, B.A., Department Technician / Lab Coordinator: holtma*AT*whitman.edu Delbert Hutchison, Ph.D., Associate Professor; population genetics, conservation biology, evolution: hutchidw*AT*whitman.edu Kate Jackson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor; introductory biology, vertebrate zoology, herpetology: jacksok*AT*whitman.edu Leena Knight, Ph.D., Assistant Professor; cell communication, pathophysiology: knightls*AT*whitman.edu Thomas Knight, Ph.D., Assistant Professor; introductory biology, biostatistics, animal behavior: knightt*AT*whitman.edu Tim Parker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor; Ecology, natural history, avian ecology: parkerth*AT*whitman.edu Michelle Shafer, M.S.; Lab and Imaging Coordinator for Cell and Molecular Biology: gisimr*AT*whitman.edu Daniel M. Vernon, Ph.D., Associate Professor; molecular biology, plant developmental genetics, and genomics: vernondm*AT*whitman.edu Christopher Wallace, Ph.D., Associate Professor; introductory biology; neurobiology, developmental biology: wallaccs*AT*whitman.edu Ginger Withers, Ph.D., Associate Professor; neurobiology, developmental biology: withergs*AT*whitman.edu; DEPARTMENT CHAIR C. Susan Weiler, Ph.D., Research Associate; phytoplankton ecology; educational/resource initiatives in aquatic and climate research: weilercs*AT*whitman.edu Paul H. Yancey, Ph.D., Professor; Animal physiology, marine biology, bioethics; human anatomy and physiology: yancey*AT*whitman.edu. ON SABBATICAL FALL 2008

Biology faculty with Jared Diamond, Feb. 2002. L to R: Charles Drabek, Delbert Hutchison, Ginger Withers, Kendra Golden, Jared Diamond (visiting speaker from UCLA), Heidi Dobson, Paul Yancey, Dan Vernon, Chris Wallace. Dr Diamond gave a talk on his award-winning book Guns, Germs and Steel, which all Whitman entering students read during the summer of 2002. Photo by Chris Bishop

Department Research Facilities New Facilities! A new wing was added in 2001-02 to the Science Building, and the old wing was renovated in 2003-04. Biology gained a new greenhouse, new teaching rooms, new stockroom, and new student-faculty research rooms. General Facilities Equipment Herbarium Greenhouse Electron Microscopy Laboratory Shell Collection REMPEL SLIDE Collection

Above: The 1981 wing of the Hall of Science with Biology on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Right: the atrium of the 2002 wing, with classrooms, displays and lounges used by all departments

• Biology Major and Combined Major Requirements
• AP Credit
• Biology Minor Requirements
• Chemistry Prerequisites for Biology Courses
• THE SENIOR YEAR: REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION--Application for Candidacy; Comprehensive Exams; Thesis; Honors

What Do Our Graduates Do?

Whitman Biology graduates go on into numerous endeavors around the world. Here are examples of the most common careers (NOT a complete list):

• GRADUATE SCHOOL: Ray Andrell ('07) --Biology MS program (hydrothermal vents physiology), WSU; Rose Kormanyos ('07)--Ecology PhD program, UC Davis; Dawn Holmes ('07)--Neurobiology PhD program, UC Irvine; Zachary Conroy ('07)--Pharmacology, U. Washington; Max Kaiser ('06)--Bioethics, Michigan State; Nancy Day ('05)--Neuroscience, Univ. Minnesota; Mike Peterson ('05)--Environmental Studies, Western Washington S.U.; Brian Emmenegger ('04)--Cell/Molecular Biology, Duke University; Nathan Thomsen ('04)--Molecular/Cell Biology, UCBerkeley; Katie Wagner ('04)--Ecology/Evolution, Cornell Univ.; Jeanette Fiess ('02)--Uinv. Hawaii (Marine Zoology); Jennifer Hom ('02)--Univ. Rochester (Physiology); Dan Gestaut ('02)--Univ. Rochester (Molecular Biology);
• MEDICAL SCHOOL:Juli Armstrong ('04)--Univ. of Washington; Robin Horak ('04)-- Jefferson Univ.; Laura Matsen ('04)--OHSU; Tsering Lhewa, John Houghland ('03)--Univ. of Washington; Sarah Menashe ('02)--Jefferson Medical College; Eric Schmitt ('02)--Tulane Univ. Md/PhD; James Conley ('01)--Creighton Univ.; Kristina Wilson ('01)--Univ. Nevada; Nicole Marshall ('00)--Mayo; Andy Leitz ('00)--Univ. Illinois MD/PhD
• VETERINARY SCHOOL: Mackenzie Adams ('07)--Colorado State; Marni Hamack ('06)--Washington State Univ.; Aspen Davidoff ('06)--Univ. of Edinburgh; Laura Lambruschi ('06)--Univ. Illinois. Mee-Ja Sula ('03)--Cornell Univ.;
• DENTAL SCHOOL: Sheldon Lu ('03)--Univ. Pittsburg
• OTHER HEALTH-CARE: Allison Fairbanks ('07)--MS Public Health program, OHSU; Kyrsten Stoops ('03)--Nursing Asst., Yakima Providence Hospital; Mark Bouma ('03)--Physical Therapy program, Univ. Washington.
• RESEARCH: Kristen Kirky ('07)--Lake and Coastal Studies, Olympic Nat'l Park; Ryan Choi ('05)--Research Asst., Northern Ariz. Univ.; Dan Cushing ('03)--Biology Technician, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska; Tsering Lhewa ('03)--N.I.H., Shannon Pierce ('02)--Environmental Scientist, Windward Environmental, Seattle
• OTHER BIOLOGY: Anna Stephenson, Zack Steel ('06)--Naturalists, San Juan Safaris; Vitas Wagner ('05)--North Pacific Fisheries Observer, Alaska/Seattle; Sara Hardee ('05)--Whale Watch Naturalist, San Juan Is., Washington
• PEACE CORPS: Mo Fitz-Maurice ('05), South Africa; Karin Pfeiffer-Hoyt ('03), Paraguay; Matt Clausen ('00), Uganda.
• TEACHING: Erin Cole ('05)--English in Japan; Rick Smith ('02)--Teaching Asst., Tropical Ecology, CIEE, Costa Rica; Annie Plantaric ('00)--Whitman-in-China Program, NW Polytechnic, Xi'an, China.
• LAW SCHOOL: Jamie Jones ('99)--Willamette University.
• POLICY: Rob Stenger ('99)--Healthcare policy research, Alpha Center, Washington DC.
• FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIP: Kristin Knight ('01)--Univ. Potsdam, Germany

Many students conduct their required research via paid INTERNSHIPS. An example: the American Physiological Society national internships program. See our INTERNSHIPS PAGE for more examples! Examples of student research projects and publications: Christopher Allen: Sequence Analysis of a Human Cell Division Control Gene. Laura Beaster: Oxygen evolution and quantum yield of photosystem II in Pisum sativum. Shawn Ferguson: Fecal pellet analysis for diet determination of a mixed colony of bats in Western Washington. David Holznagel: A DNA microsatellite based phylogeny of Glycine species native to Australia. Rose Hyde: Reproductive constraints: Changes in pollen viability over the flowering season in Banksia. Blue Young: The Medical Feasibility of Marijuana.

Oct. 2001: 3 Whitman students present their work at the 2nd Internat'l Hydrothermal Vent Symposium, Brest, FRANCE (see Fiess et al., below)

Examples of PUBLICATIONS (*=undergraduates) G. G. Parker, M. M. Davis*, S. M. Chapotin (2002). Canopy light transmittance in Douglas-fir western hemlock stands. Tree Physiology 22:147-157 Cushing DA*, Forsthoefel NR, Gestaut DR*, & Vernon DM (2005). Arabidopsis emb 175 and other ppr knockout mutants reveal essential roles for PPR proteins in plant embryogenesis. Planta, 221: 424-436. Rosenberg*, N.K., R.W. Lee, P.H. Yancey (2006). High contents of hypotaurine and thiotaurine in hydrothermal-vent gastropods without thiotrophic endosymbionts. J. Exp. Zool. 305A: 655-662. Brand*, G.L., R.V. Horak*, N. LeBris, S.K. Goffredi, S.L. Carney, B. Govenar, P.H. Yancey (2007). Hypotaurine and thiotaurine as indicators of sulfide exposure in bivalves and vestimentiferans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. Mar. Ecol. 28: 208-218. Samerotte*, A.L., J.C. Drazen, G.L. Brand*, B.A. Seibel, P.H. Yancey (2007). Contents of trimethylamine oxide correlate with depth within as well as among species of teleost fish: an analysis of causation. Phys. Zool. Biochem. 80: 197-208

Calendar of Events

•Sept. 26: Tovi Anderson, Stanford: "Using Molecular Genetics to Investigate Genes for Coat Color in Canines and Pigmentation in Humans": 2pm, Sci 376
•Sept. 29: The 2008 Benedict Environmental Studies lecturer will be William Ruddiman, renowned climatologist: "Humans have Prevented the Start of an Ice Age"; 8pm, Maxey Auditorium
•Mar. 31, 2009: The 2008-09 REMPEL LECTURE: Dr. Harry Greene of Cornell University: "Natural history, esthetics, and conservation"

• VEGANAL (Vegetational Analysis, Point-Centered Quarter Method) for Ecology
• The Virtual Fetal Pig Dissection--developed by Prof. Earl Fleck with a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; cited in an Oct. 2006 N.Y. Times article on widely-used educational sites.
• Biological Principles (Biol 111) (Textbook = Campbell).
• Genetics (Biol 205/206)
• Human Anatomy and Physiology, Biol 120
• Marine Biology, Biol 278
• Cell Biology, Biol 309
• Physiology, Biol 310
• Bioethics Seminar, Biol 401/402
• Evolution Seminar, Biol 401/402
• Conservation Biology.
• Though not a Whitman course, this is a site for obtaining PRACTICE GRE EXAMS

What do you do with a biology degree after college? I trust that you have talked with the following:

• Parents
• Family Friends
• Student Friends
• Professors

Here are some other Web resources that may be of use.

• Interested in pursuing a career in human genetics after college?
• Here is a database of biotech jobs that provides many services necessary for finding work in the realm of science (resume postings, employer databases, etc.)
• American Medical Student Association: Premeds at University of Pennsylvania. Check out the American Medical Student Association, University of Pennsylvania Premedical Chapter . Here you can find more information about The American Medical Student Association.
• Have you considered Clinical Laboratory Science as a career path? This can be pursued (usually at low cost) in the fourth year of college, or in post-graduate work. Many industries and research facilities and hospitals need people in this area, and there is a shortage that is reaching a critical point. SEE these web sites:
  American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
  American Society of Clinical Pathologists
• If you are interested in dentistry check out the American Dental Association homepage.
• How about an alternative to getting your M.D. Check out Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) by visiting the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine or The School of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
• How about physical therapy? Also, check out the Physical Therapy WWW Page.
• Interested in being a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant? Check out these URLs.

Below we list some interesting Web sites you may wish to visit. If you go to the Home Pages for the various Biology web courses you will find many more resources.

• Whitman's widely used Virtual Fetal Pig Dissection--developed by Prof. Earl Fleck with a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
• College Scholarships, Grad School and GRE Information
• PRACTICE GRE exams!
• REMPEL SLIDE COLLECTION
• Look at the World Wide Web Virtual Library: Biosciences for entrance into the world of biology on the Internet.
• Microbiology: An excellent site for almost all Microbiology topics can be found at Microbes.Info
  
• Evolution /Creation Controversy Frequently Asked Questions. In this FAQ you will find answers to many of the questions asked by creationists about evolutionary theory.
  Note that courses in our department are completely integrated with evolutionary theory and facts, since, as T. Dobzhansky put it so well, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." The Genome Project is particularly illustrative of this--many details of the Human Genome announced in Feb. 2001 are incomprehensible without evolutionary understanding. The recent rise of the "Intelligent Design" or ID movement has not made an impact on biology primarily because its hypotheses cannot be tested and/or falsified, two features necessary for consideration in science. Moreover, some of the more scientific-sounding ID proposals such as "Irreducible Complexity" or IC make little sense. An IC system is said to be one that ceases to function if any single part is damaged. Thus it is proposed, such a system could not have evolved in gradual steps. This idea falls apart quite quickly when examined closely. First, evolution can indeed come up with IC systems (e.g., through loss of overlapping functions). Second, IC, if it were a result of "design", would be judged as incompetent, not intelligent. As any engineer knows, a designer will make any crucial system to be either as SIMPLE (not complex) as possible, so that failure is unlikely, or as REDUNDANT (not irreducible) as possible so that there are back-ups when critical parts fail. For example, think about how we'd regard an automobile designer who made a car with no spare tire, no hand brake, no multiple bolts and rivets to hold parts together. Finally, the systems presented by the ID movement as "IC"--the bacterial flagellum (of which there are 100s of different related types), mammalian blood-clotting, etc.--are not irreducible in any straightforward way and show clear signs of evolutionary history. For example, if the flagellum loses its so-called paddle, it still functions as a protein-secretory motor, which structural analysis indicates is the ancestral function of the motor.
• The Tree of Life Phylogeny Navigator. At his site you will find a series of pages showing the phylogeny or classification of a group of organisms. It is under construction at present but clearly shows what is possible in the future on the internet.
• Developmental Biology: Visual Models of Morphogenesis: A Guided Tour. Patterns of development in biological systems are often difficult to portray. This site provides some fine graphics allowing you to visualize developmental patterns.
• Birding Hotspots in Walla Walla: Shirley Muse suggests the following locations for good birding in the Walla Walla valley.

Last update 9-Oct-2008