Department of Biology

http://www.bio.tamu.edu

Head: A. Keene

Resources for Graduate Study

The Department of Biology offers graduate programs designed to prepare students for careers in academic institutions, government agencies and industry. The Biological Sciences Complex is centrally located on the campus of Texas A&M University. Graduate research is emphasized in over 50 laboratories that contain modern and sophisticated instrumentation for cellular, molecular, organismal and ecological studies. These laboratories provide opportunities for a broad spectrum of research specializations. The Microscopy Imaging Center, animal care facilities and a state-of-the-art DNA sequencing laboratory are among the many facilities housed in the Biological Sciences Complex.

The Department of Biology faculty has research interests that interface with faculty in agriculture and life sciences, geosciences, medicine and veterinary medicine. Biology faculty participate in interdisciplinary programs in biological clocks, filamentous fungi, genetics, genomics, neuroscience and plant sciences. Cooperation is encouraged to broaden the research experience of graduate students.

Areas of Specialization in Graduate Research

PhD and MS degrees are offered in Biology, and PhD and MS degrees are offered in Microbiology. General areas of research interests within these degrees include:

Cellular and Developmental Biology

Plant protoplast and tissue culture, transformation and regeneration; molecular biology and genetics of development and differentiation; nuclear organization; developmental neurobiology; cell surface interactions; physiology of photosynthesis.

Evolutionary Biology

Modern and classical approaches to plant and animal systematics and evolution; genomic and biochemical evolution; cytogenetics.

Molecular Biology

DNA and RNA isolation, cloning and sequencing; gene isolation, characterization, transfer and expression; bacterial and phage genetics; molecular processes of differentiation and embryogenesis; molecular microbiology and virology; genomics and informatics.

Organismal Biology

Comparative endocrinology and physiology; neurobiology; invertebrate ecology and ethology; marine biology; biological clocks.

Entrance Requirements

Coursework taken at the baccalaureate level normally must include mathematics through calculus, statistics, chemistry including organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, genetics and adequate preparation in a biological science. Any remedial work will be in addition to the semester hours required for the degree. Graduate admissions decisions are based on students’ academic record, research experience, letters of recommendation, GRE scores (verbal, quantitative and analytical) and suitability of students’ research interests for programs in the department. For information about admissions, contact the Graduate Advisor, Department of Biology or visit us on the website at http://www.bio.tamu.edu.

Language Requirement

The Department of Biology has no foreign language requirement for any graduate degree program.

Biology
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Microbiology

Biology

BIOL 601/NRSC 635 Biological Clocks

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduction to the formal properties of biological rhythms; cellular and molecular bases for rhythmicity; temporal adaptations of organisms using clocks. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: NRSC 635/BIOL 601.

BIOL 606 Microbial Genetics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Basic understanding of microbial genetic systems and how genetic analyses can be used to investigate fundamental biological processes in bacteria. Prerequisite: GENE 302 or BIOL 351.

BIOL 608 Theory and Applications of Light Microscopy

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 3 Lab Hours. Provides biologists, material scientists and students from other disciplines with the theoretical background and practical techniques of sample preparation, operation of light microscopes as well as image acquisition and processing; individual instruction which facilitates the completion of their research projects involving light microscopic techniques. Prerequisite: half-page write-up describing how their graduate work will benefit.

BIOL 609 Molecular Tools in Biology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Interactive lecture course in molecular biology for beginning graduate students; introduction to tools and methodologies used in prokaryotic and eukaryotic molecular labs; choosing the appropriate experimental technique for a given scientific question; virtual experiments will reinforce the applications and introduce useful bioinformatics tools. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

BIOL 610 Evolution

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. 0 Lab Hours. Fundamentals of evolutionary biology with an emphasis on evolutionary theory. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.

BIOL 611 Developmental Genetics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Major paradigms of eukaryotic gene regulation in terms of the role of gene expression during ontogeny and the effect of dysfunction in these processes on the neoplastic state.

BIOL 612 Fundamental Molecular Cell Biology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Foundation in current molecular and cellular biology and genetics; basis for many interdisciplinary studies including biostatistics, cancer biology, and biomedical materials and devices. Prerequisites: Graduate classification; non-biology majors.

BIOL 613 Cell Biology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Consideration of the eukaryotic cell as a functional, integrated unit in living organisms including structure, composition, function and biogenesis of subcellular components; dynamic processes and interactions of cells, including division, communication, and death; experimental approaches in modern cell biology and selected applications of experimental cell biology to problems in medicine. Prerequisite: BICH 410 or BIOL 213; concurrent enrollment in BIOL 213 or BICH 410 strongly discouraged.

BIOL 621 R for Biologists

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Free software environment and coding language for statistical computing and graphics production, including all stages of biological research and attention to how research can be conducted in an open and reproducible manner; manage data, use existing packages, develop new packages and web apps and produce publication quality figures. Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

BIOL 622 Microbial Physiology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. An area of microbial physiology will be explored at the molecular, cellular, and genetic levels through reading and discussion of classic and current research literature. The area of focus may change from semester to semester. May be taken three times for credit with approval of instructor. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

BIOL 627 Principles of Neuroscience I

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Detailed introduction to the basic fundamentals of cellular and molecular neuroscience; topics include membrane potentials, action potential generation, and the mechanisms underlying synaptic transmission, as well as their molecular basis. Prerequisites: Graduate classification or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: NEXT 610 and NRSC 601.

BIOL 628/NRSC 602 Principles of Neuroscience II

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Fully integrated overview of nervous system organization and systems-level neurobiology; broad topics include sensory systems and sensory systems function, motor systems and neuromuscular function, central pattern generation and locomotion, homeostatic regulation, motivation, emotions, learning and memory, and circadian rhythms. Prerequisites: Graduate classification or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: NRSC 602/BIOL 628.

BIOL 634/NRSC 634 Comparative Neurobiology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Cellular, molecular and systems neurobiology, together with neuroethology. A comparative approach to subject matter is stressed. Topics such as evolution of nervous systems and their diverse structure and complex functions are dealt with. Cross Listing: NRSC 634/BIOL 634.

BIOL 635 Plant Molecular Biology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Molecular aspects of plant growth, development, reproduction and evolution, emphasizing the structure, function, regulation, interaction and manipulation of plant genes; practical applications of plant molecular biology. Prerequisite: GENE 431/BICH 431.

BIOL 644/NRSC 644 Neural Development

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Classical and current research literature to explore the major events in the development of a nervous system, including topics ranging from neurogenesis to synapse information. Prerequisite: Graduate classification. Cross Listing: NRSC 644/BIOL 644.

BIOL 647 Digital Biology

Credits 4. 4 Lecture Hours. Obtain, organize, process, and analyze genome and genome-related data; learning to ask and answer biologically relevant questions by designing and performing experiments using computers. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval form instructor.

BIOL 650/BICH 650 Genomics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Modern genomics as a tool for understanding biological systems; review of gene structure and organization and the history of sequencing technologies; focus on transcriptional, translational and functional genomics. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: BICH 650/BIOL 650.

BIOL 651 Bioinformatics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduction to applications related to information processing in biological research with practical training exercises; includes internet databases, sequence alignment, motif prediction, gene and prometer prediction, phylogenetic analysis, protein structure classification, analysis and prediction, genome annotation, assembly and comparative analysis, and proteomics analysis. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.

BIOL 661 Antimicrobial Agents

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Understanding of microbial agents, limitations of use, biosynthesis and regulation, and challenges in development as new therapeutics. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

BIOL 665 Biology of Invertebrates

Credits 4. 3 Lecture Hours. 3 Lab Hours. Morphology, biology and phylogeny of invertebrates. Topics may be either detailed discussions of specific organisms or comparative information on a process. Prerequisite: BIOL 335 or equivalent.

BIOL 681 Seminar

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Detailed reports on specific topics in field chosen. Students may register in up to but no more than three sections of this course in the same semester.

BIOL 682 Communicating Biological Science

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Instruction and practice with presenting research topics on biological science to a variety of audiences under different time constraints; emphasis on oral communication, including talks, poster presentations, and scientific writing; topics include critical elements in any presentation; knowing your audience/readers; designing effective visual aids and graphics; leading your audience/readers through complex concepts; preparing for presentations; and communicating with non-scientists. Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

BIOL 683 Experimental Design in Biology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Design of scientific research projects in the field of biology; a wide range of biological experiments designed with the appropriate statistical technique for analysis; design biological studies that are statistically tractable and perform basic statistical analyses using the statistical programming language R. Prerequisites: Graduate classification and STAT651 or approval of instructor.

BIOL 685 Directed Studies

Credits 1 to 8. 1 to 8 Other Hours. Limited investigations in fields other than those chosen for thesis or dissertation.

BIOL 686 Biomedical Therapeutics Development

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Basic aspects of the biotechnology business; includes key aspects of biotechnology patents, the main steps in preclinical drug development and company structure and funding. Prerequisites: Graduate classification or approval of instructor; BIOL 696 or concurrent enrollment.

BIOL 689 Special Topics in...

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Lecture Hours. 0 to 4 Lab Hours. Selected topics in an identified area of biology.

BIOL 691 Research

Credits 1 to 23. 1 to 23 Other Hours. Research for thesis or dissertation.

BIOL 694 Graduate Orientation

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Instruction on what constitutes fraud in science, how to recognize it and avoid committing fraud; includes basis of ethics and plagiarism; negotiation techniques and conflict management; regulations and ethics covering animal and human experiments; record-keeping; data management; peer review. May be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

BIOL 696 Ethics and Responsible Conduct of Research

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Instruction on what constitutes fraud in science, how to recognize it and avoid committing fraud; includes basis of ethics and plagiarism; negotiation techniques and conflict management; regulations and ethics covering animal and human experiments; record-keeping; data management; peer review. May be taken four times for credit. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.

BIOL 697 Methods in Teaching Biology Laboratory

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Introduction to teaching methods associated with the teaching of undergraduate biology laboratories; emphasis on effective preparation and delivery of laboratory course content, clear instructions for procedures and laboratory safety. Prerequisite: Graduate classification in a biological science.

BIOL 698/NRSC 698 Behavior, Genes, and Evolution

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduces an integrative approach to the study of animal behavior, complementing evolutionary and ecological perspectives with molecular and genetic approaches and methodologies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification. Cross Listing: NRSC 698/BIOL 698.

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

EEBL 600/ECCB 600 Populations, Communities, and Ecosystems

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Basic principles and methodologies of ecology and preparation for pursuit of advanced study in subfields such as population biology, community ecology, evolutionary ecology and ecosystem science; emphasis on population, community and ecosystem processes that also have significance and influence at landscape, regional and global scales as well as proximate to evolutionary time scales; basic principles of ecology that are critical to biological conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and renewable natural resources. Prerequisites: Graduate classification. Cross Listing: ECCB 600/EEBL 600.

EEBL 601 Physiological Ecology

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Examination of how physiological systems respond, over different timescales, to variation in physical and biological environments; understanding how the interaction of organism and environment determines characteristics relevant to ecology; understanding the effect of individual characteristic on population and interspecific dynamics. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 602 Population Ecology

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Fundamental concepts in population dynamics; focus on birth, death, immigration and emigration processes; how processes are affected by internal factors and ways they affect population abundance. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 603 Community Ecology

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Fundamental concepts in community ecology; conceptual development of the sub-discipline; spatial and temporal patterns of community structure; processes that determine community structure and dynamics; interface of population, community and ecosystem ecology; applications of community ecology for natural resource management, agriculture and health Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 604 Ecosystem Ecology

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Examination of flow of materials, energy and information between ecosystems and the geographic structure in which ecosystems are embedded globally; integrative nature of spatial and temporal processes acting across ecosystem units. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 605 Population and Quantitative Genetics

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Basic overview of the fields of population and quantitative genetics; fundamental concepts and their applications in research of natural populations. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 606 Phylogenetics and Comparative Biology

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Examination of phylogenetics and comparative biology. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 607 Evolutionary Genomics

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. New techniques for generating large amounts of genetic data, including thousands of single-nucleotide polymorphisms and whole-genome sequence data; transforming the study of evolutionary biology and the interpretation of evolutionary phenomena; includes population genetics, adaptation, phylogenomics and speciation. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 608 Integrative Animal Behavior

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Examination of the contributions of behavior to survival and reproduction; the interaction of evolutionary history and ecological circumstance to shape the expression of behavior; integrative nature of behavior; interaction of evolutionary processes, mechanistic constraints and ecological demands involved in selecting for a set of behavioral strategies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 610 First Year Graduate Seminar

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Attendance and active participation in the weekly dinnertime conversation on PhD and career planning with ecology and evolutionary biology core faculty and others; faculty and colleagues provide feedback on application for fellowship support. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 612 Open Source for Open Science Bootcamp

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Exposure to command line programming in R; principles of data import, vetting, processing, analysis, graphing and produce export; bootcamp precedes Fall semesters over a three-day period. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval by instructor.

EEBL 645 Ecological Genomics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Ecological genomics toolkit including genetic maps, genotyping, RAD-sequencing, whole-genome assembly and resequencing, RNA-sequencing analyses; genomics of adaptation; speciation genomics; speciation genomics; conservation genomics; genomics and life history traits; phylogenomics; climate change and genomics. Prerequisites: GENE 301, GENE 302, GENE 310 or GENE 412, or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ECCB 645 and GENE 645.

EEBL 676 Speciation Genetics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduction to the ability to speciate into biologically diverse forms via microevolutionary processes; literature on the origin of species beginning with Darwin and continuing through contemporary work; overview of several major topics in speciation with special emphasis on the genetics of speciation in this genomic era. Prerequisites: GENE 603 and BIOL 610 or BIOL 466, or equivalent. Cross Listing: VIBS 676 and GENE 676.

EEBL 681 Seminar

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Attendance and active participation in the weekly ecology and evolutionary biology colloquium featuring guest speakers invited by students and faculty. May be taken up to six hours for credit. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

EEBL 689 Special Topics in...

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Lecture Hours. Selected topics in an identified area of ecology and evolutionary biology. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

Microbiology

MICR 681 Seminar

Credit 1. 1 Other Hour. Detailed reports on specific topics in field chosen. Students may register in up to but no more than three sections of this course in the same semester.

MICR 685 Directed Studies

Credits 1 to 6. 1 to 6 Other Hours. Limited investigations in fields other than those chosen for thesis or dissertation.

MICR 689 Special Topics in...

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Lecture Hours. Selected topics in an identified area of microbiology.

MICR 691 Research

Credits 1 to 12. 1 to 12 Other Hours. Research for thesis or dissertation.

Alexander, Michael B, Lab Instructor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2014

Aramayo, Rodolfo A, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Georgia, 1992

Arzan Zarin, Aref, Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, The University of Dublin, 2013

Bell-Pedersen, Deborah, University Distinguished Professor
Biology
PHD, State University of New York at Albany, 1991

Blackmon, Heath L, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Texas at Arlington, 2015

Cohn, William B, Instructional Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2000

Criscione, Charles D, Professor
Biology
PHD, Oregon State University, 2005

Delmore, Kira, Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, University of British Columbia, 2015

Dulin, Jennifer N, Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Texas Health Science Center, 2012

Erickson, James W, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1989

Farhy, Isabella, Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, Tel Aviv University, 2013

Fletcher, Samantha, Senior Lecturer
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2019

Garcia, Luis R, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Texas, 1996

Gomer, Richard H, University Distinguished Professor
Biology
PHD, California Institute of Technology, 1983

Griffing, Lawrence R, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Stanford University, 1981

Hardin, Paul E, Distinguished Professor
Biology
PHD, Indiana University, 1987

Hawkins, Angela K, Senior Lecturer
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2018

Janes, Donna, Instructional Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Illinois, 2004

Leboeuf, Brigitte L, Instructional Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2009

Lee, Christopher P, Instructional Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M Univerisity, 2014

Lockless, Steve W, Research Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Texas at Dallas, 2002
PHD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2002

Mackenzie, Duncan S, Associate Professor Emeritus
Biology
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 1980

McCreedy, Dylan, Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, Washington University, St. Louis, 2013

McKnight, Thomas D, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Georgia, 1983

Menet, Jerome, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Louis Pasteur University, 2003

Merlin, Christine, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, University Pierre and Marie Curie, 2006

Mitchell, Angela, Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2013

Moyes, Rita J, Instructional Associate Professor Emerita
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1992

Nan, Beiyan, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Peking University, 2007

Norton, Jerry D, Lab Instructor
Biology
PHD, University of Texas, 1994

Paredes-Sabja, Daniel, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Oregon State University, 2009

Pepper, Alan E, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of California at Davis, 1990

Pilling, Darrell, Research Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Birmingham, 1995

Qin, Hongmin, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1999

Rao, Asha, Instructional Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2002

Riley, Bruce B, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1990

Rosenthal, Gil G, Adjunct Professor
Biology
PHD, The University of Texas at Austin, 2000

Roy Sarkar, Tapasree, Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, Purdue University, 2008
PHD, Purdue University - West Lafayette, 2008

Ryan, Kathryn J, Instructional Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Baylor College of Medicine, 1998

Sachs, Matthew S, Professor
Biology
PHD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1986

Scott, Timothy P, Professor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1996

Siegele, Deborah A, Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1989

Smith, James L, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Florida, 2002

Smotherman, Michael S, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of California at Los Angeles, 1998

Sorg, Joseph A, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Chicago, 2006

St. Clair, Allison, Senior Lecturer
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2017

Tag, Andrew G, Instructional Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2003

Taylor, Lathrop, Instructional Associate Professor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1985

Versaw, Wayne K, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1995

Wicksten, Mary K, Professor
Biology
PHD, University of Southern California, 1977

Wright, Rachel N, Instructional Assistant Professor
Biology
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2011

Zoran, Mark J, Professor
Biology
PHD, Iowa State University, 1987