Welcome to the Department of Biology at Georgia Southern University.

The Department of Biology at Georgia Southern University is a major center for research and teaching in the biological sciences. No matter what your interest or specific career goals, we are confident that we can meet your needs. The broad expertise of our faculty, located on three campuses, gives students the opportunity to train in any area of modern biology, including pre-professional programs. Students in our department work with nationally known faculty and state-of-the-art equipment in our teaching and
research labs. Our department’s large size provides a diversity of experiences, and our faculty will take a personal interest in your progress.

As a graduate of our department, you will have a skill-based education with the flexibility to meet the changing demands of your career. Our students learn relevant skills both in the classroom and via hands-on research with faculty mentors. More broadly, you will gain a firm understanding of the role of science in society and be able to make informed decisions about biology-related issues that affect your future. Finally, you will broaden your horizons by making professional connections among our diverse
faculty and collaborators.

Our department offers a opportunities for internships and other capstone experiences, and your work can be supported by a variety of scholarships. Your studies will be guided by faculty that consistently receive awards for their teaching, research, and service. Our alumni work in every state and many countries. We are proud of our department, and we invite you to let us contribute to your success. Where will your biology degree take you?

Biology Concentrations: Personalizing your Biology Degree!

Overview

The Department of Biology at Georgia Southern University is a student-centered department that offers training from the molecular to the ecosystem level. By interacting closely with a caring faculty of teacher-scholars, our undergraduates receive hands-on training to enter the job market or competitive professional and graduate schools. The Department of Biology places more graduates in pre-professional schools than any other department on campus. Approximately 25% of our graduate students go on to receive PhDs. Creative scholarships and independent research programs give students opportunities to work directly with individual faculty members.

We offer undergraduate degree programs leading to the BS or BA in biology; our graduate program offers the MS in biology. We also offer a minor in Biology for students majoring in other programs. Our department is home to 77 full-time faculty, 41 graduate students, and 1516 undergraduate majors, housed on three campuses:

Our department in Statesboro has 45 full-time faculty, 9 staff, 40 graduate students, and 1030 undergraduate majors. We are housed in a new LEED-certified Biological Sciences building that provides up-to-date facilities and the latest in “smart classroom” technology. The Statesboro campus is home to 20,000 students.

Our department on the Armstrong campus in Savannah has 29 full-time faculty, 3 staff, 1 graduate student, and 445 undergraduate majors. We are housed in the Science Center that provides modern classrooms and laboratory space. The Armstrong campus is home to 7000 students.

Our department in Hinesville is in the Liberty Center, a new, state-of-the-art building offering programs for local students, particularly those affiliated with the military. Here we have 3 faculty and 41 undergraduate majors. The Liberty Campus is home to 500 students.

The faculty of the Georgia Southern University Biology Department recognizes the foundational importance of evolutionary theory to all of modern biology, and is in full agreement with the Society for the Study of Evolution’s statements on evolution and on the teaching of evolution.

Collaborators

In addition to our campus facilities, faculty and students collaborate with a variety of agencies and nonprofits in Georgia and beyond. These collaborators provide Georgia Southern students and faculty access to a broad range of habitats, research and learning opportunities, and study sites.

Cumberland Island National Seashore. Cumberland Island is one of Georgia’s best-known barrier islands, home to biologically diverse estuaries, salt marsh, barrier beaches, and maritime forest. The National Park Service manages the site and facilities, including on-site housing. Cumberland is a frequent site for research by Georgia Southern faculty and students.

El Verde Field Station. The El Verde Field Station is located within El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, surrounded by tropical rainforests representative of many Caribbean island ecosystems. Research at El Verde focuses on forest dynamics, stream ecology and hydrology, and ecosystem processes. Most research is conducted by the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program and by scientists from the University of Puerto Rico and universities in mainland US (including faculty and students from Georgia Southern).

Fort Stewart. Fort Stewart, the largest U.S. Army base east of the Mississippi, is a 280,000-acre facility located just south of Statesboro. Through collaborations with the Fort Stewart Division of Fish & Wildlife, Georgia Southern faculty and students have the opportunity to conduct research in some of the most extensive natural forested habitat remaining in southern Georgia, including areas that support endangered and threatened species such as Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Gopher Tortoise, Flatwoods Salamander, Gopher Frog, Bachman’s Sparrow, and Georgia Plume.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The Coastal Resource Division and the Nongame Wildlife Division of the DNR are instrumental in facilitating many of the research projects carried out by faculty and students. From funding graduate student research to providing access to DNR-controlled sites such as Ossabaw Island and Little Egg Island Bar, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is an important collaborator for the department.

Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary. Gray’s Reef, located 20 miles off Sapelo Island, is one of the largest near shore live-bottom reefs in the southeastern United States. Encompassing 22 square miles of live-bottom habitat, Gray’s Reef is a submerged limestone area that attracts many species of sponges, tunicates, echinoderms, bryozoans, and benthic and pelagic fish, and is part of the only known winter calving ground for the endangered Northern Right Whale. Georgia Southern faculty and students visit the reef often as part of research collaborations with NOAA-National Marine Sanctuary biologists.

Highlands Biological Station. This field station is located at an elevation of 4000 ft in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest North Carolina (near the Georgia state line). Our department is a member institution, and this facilitates access to housing and research facilities for our faculty and students.

Mountain Lake Biological Station. Located at an elevation of 3800 ft in the Allegheny Mountains of southwest Virginia, this field station for the University of Virginia is an ideal resource for students wishing to work on montane plants or animals. Faculty from Georgia Southern teach at Mountain Lake on a regular basis and maintain research collaborations with UVA faculty.

Phinizy Center for Water Sciences. Phinizy Center’s mission is to promote environmental stewardship through research, education, and public outreach. Phinizy Center conducts research in watershed management and river basin ecology focusing on impacts to the Savannah River and its tributaries. Georgia Southern faculty and students collaborate with the center on research in the nearby Ogeechee River.

Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. Sapelo Island, easily accessible from all of our campuses, is one of Georgia’s most biologically and culturally rich barrier islands. Georgia Southern students have worked in close cooperation with reserve staff to conduct research on vector-borne disease, forest ecology, oak restoration, and fish population dynamics.

Savannah River Site. The US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, located about 2 hours north of Statesboro, encompasses almost 200,000 acres of forested habitat. Georgia Southern faculty and students have collaborated with scientists from USDA Forest Service, University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Lab, and Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Lab on a variety of ecological studies.

The Orianne Society. This nonprofit organization is devoted to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles, as well as the habitats on which they depend. The Department of Biology has a memorandum of understanding to collaborate and share resources in order to further the mission of conserving biodiversity in our region. Their Longleaf Savannas Initiative works to conserve the remarkable biodiversity of the longleaf-wiregrass ecosystem of southern Georgia, a system in which many of our faculty and students work.