General Biology

Directed Research in Biology offers students an immersive, hands-on opportunity to engage in the scientific process under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Moving beyond theoretical classroom learning, participants design and conduct an original investigation in a laboratory or field setting to explore a specific biological question. This experience is designed to develop practical skills in experimental design, data collection and analysis, and scientific communication, often culminating in a formal research paper or presentation. It allows students to apply foundational biological principles to a focused area of inquiry, contributing to the body of scientific knowledge while gaining invaluable experience for future careers or graduate studies.

Modeling in biology is the practice of using mathematical, computational, or conceptual frameworks to create simplified representations of complex biological systems. This approach allows scientists to simulate processes, test hypotheses, and make predictions about how systems behave under different conditions, particularly for phenomena that are too large, slow, or complex to study through direct experimentation. Spanning all scales of life, these models are used for everything from predicting the spread of infectious diseases and analyzing population dynamics to deciphering gene regulatory networks and simulating protein folding. By abstracting the essential features of a system, biological modeling serves as a powerful tool that complements traditional research to deepen our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of life.

Radiation biology is the scientific field that examines the effects of radiation, particularly ionizing radiation like X-rays and gamma rays, on living organisms. It explores how radiation energy is absorbed by biological tissues and the subsequent chemical and biological changes that occur at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels. This discipline is fundamental to understanding the mechanisms of DNA damage, cell death, and carcinogenesis caused by radiation exposure, and it provides the scientific basis for applications such as cancer radiotherapy, medical imaging, and radiation protection standards.