The Department of Biology seeks to prepare students for graduate and professional schools, and to stimulate them to develop an attitude of scientific inquiry so that they may become informed citizens. The Department has an undergraduate program with a Bachelor of Science in biology. Further the Department offers support courses to meet the requirements for programs in allied health sciences, dentistry, forestry, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, and veterinary medicine.

James H. Bickert, Associate Professor of Biology
Ph.D., University of Tennessee, herpetology

Charlotte M. Christy, Assistant Professor of Biology
Ph.D., Arizona State University, vascular plant taxonomy and evolution

Judith E. Gordon, Associate Professor of Biology
Ph.D., Indiana University, fern development, local flora

Tamara L. McNutt-Scott, Assistant Professor of Biology
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, reproductive toxicology and physiology

Bruce M. Saul, Associate Professor of Biology
Ph.D., University of Tennessee, fisheries management, aquatic organisms and pollution

Dianne C. Snyder, Assistant Professor Biology
Ph.D., Tulane University, neurobiology development

Russell E. Stullken, Associate Professor of Biology
Ph.D., Emory University, parasitology, human anatomy and physiology, cell biology

Cathy R. Tugmon, Assistant Professor of Biology
Ph.D., University of New Hampshire, arachnology, microbiology, cell biology and recombinant DNA technology

Emil K. Urban, Chair and Professor of Biology
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, birds of Africa, crane and colonial waterbird biology

Donna J. Wear, Assistant Professor of Biology
Ph.D., Mississippi State University, aquatic and marine ecology, phycology, seagrass ecology, autotroph-consumer and macrophyte-epiphyte interactions

William R. Wellnitz, Associate Professor of Biology
Ph.D., Cornell University, genetics, microbiology, molecular biology and genetic engineering