In New Center, Green Oaks Term Continues to be Popular, Successful with Knox Students
One of Knox College’s most beloved programs continues to roll along, embracing the immersive experience unlike few others.
Biology
Sure, a biology degree is great preparation for medical school. When you major or minor in biology at Knox, you’ll also discover a whole world of possibilities.
Major or minor in Biology. Graduate with a B.A. or B.S. The choice is up to you.
We have research centers for microscopy, cell and tissue culture, and cell and molecular biology. Knox students have access to an aquarium, an aviary, and Green Oaks—700 acres of forest, grassland, aquatic habitat, and the second site in the nation where a tallgrass prairie was restored.
Course Spotlight
In your earliest introductory courses, you’ll get to know every member of our biology faculty. We teach as a team, with professors lecturing on topics closely aligned with their own research interests while their colleagues sit in on class and participate in discussion. It’s a great way to choose a mentor or discover a new area to explore. Labs are smaller, enabling you to work side by side with a professor as you learn how to design an effective experiment and communicate the results.
- BIOL 110 Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity
- BIOL 281 Nutrition and Metabolism
- BIOL 314 Ornithology
- BIOL 319 Conservation Biology
- BIOL 324 Pregnancy Through a Multidisciplinary Lens
- BIOL 331 Genomics and Bioinformatics
A Few Things That Might Surprise You about Biology at Knox
Knox College's biology program gives you access to state-of-the-art facilities—and hands-on use of them early in your Knox career—to ensure success in graduate school and careers in biology.
Seriously Advanced Microscopy
You can work with equipment that most biology undergraduates would love to get their hands on—and that you wouldn’t expect to find at a small liberal arts college. Our labs offer one of the region’s only confocal microscopes, as well as a scanning electron microscope.
Green Oaks
Our 700-acre biological field station is an amazing place to conduct field research in ecology, animal behavior, and botany. It’s also an excellent spot to grab a canoe and spend the afternoon exploring. You can even spend 10 weeks living and working there as part of the immersive Green Oaks Term.
Life Outside the Classroom
Despite our on-campus reputation as “SMC rats” (that is, denizens of the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center), biology students get around. The biology curriculum is structured so you’ll have plenty of time to pursue a second major (even outside the sciences!), study abroad, play sports, or become a campus leader.
What Our Biology Alumni Are Doing
You’ll find our alumni in the lab, in the clinic, in the OR, and at the forefront of medicine.
- Alice Lee ’19 | Physical Therapist, Core Sport and Physical Therapy
- Marissa Akers ’21 | Clinical Data Specialist, Myriad Genetics
- Bryssa Montez ’19 | Clinician, Community Research Foundation
- Morgan Potter ’19 | Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) student at Mississippi State University
- Emily McParland ’22 | Ph.D. candidate in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Brown University
Biology News
Find out what’s happening inside the biology department.
New Interactive Display Unveiled in SMC
The interactive NMR spectrometer was officially launched during Homecoming 2023.
55-Foot Whale Skeleton Comes to Knox College Campus
Students and faculty from multiple departments will reconstruct and preserve the skeleton, which will be on permanent display in the renovated Umbeck Science-Math Center.
Take a Closer Look
Contact us to learn more about our program, our professors—or our microscopes.
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