Graduate Areas of Concentration

Behavioral ecology, behavioral endocrinology, cell biology, chemical ecology, conservation biology, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, genetics, genomics, host-microbe interactions, marine ecology, paleontology, physiology, population biology

Administered by the Department of Integrative Biology under the School of Life Sciences.

The Department of Integrative Biology offers graduate work leading toward the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in all areas of biology ranging from molecular to community levels.

At present there are active research programs involving graduate students in the study of comparative immunobiology and pathology; cellular interactions and tissue differentiation; neuronal development; cytogenetics; behavioral biology at the neurophysiological, endocrinological, and ecological levels; environmental physiology; vertebrate functional morphology; reproductive biology; natural products chemistry; marine biology; physiologic and biochemical adaptation; genetics and evolution of populations; experimental marine, terrestrial, and freshwater population and community ecology; biodiversity and conservation biology.

Research is conducted in laboratories on campus, at the Malheur Field Station in southeastern Oregon, at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, and in natural areas of the Cascade Mountains and Willamette Valley. Students also have entered into cooperative research programs in other departments, with the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and with the Primate Research Center in Beaverton.

As part of their training, all students participate in the departmental seminar program, and doctoral students spend at least one year as teaching assistants. Most students are supported by graduate teaching or research assistantships. Students are expected to have broad competency in biology. The master’s program leads to a thesis or research report (nonthesis option) on a specific problem; the PhD program emphasizes independent thesis research on a major topic at the forefront of the chosen field.