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Ecology, Behavior and Evolution

The Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution major includes the fields of population biology, ecology, conservation biology, animal behavior, population genetics, biogeography, and evolution. These fields have in common a focus on evolutionary processes and whole organisms in relation to each other and to their environments. Because organismal biology spans such a wide variety of topics, this major has been designed to provide the basic fundamentals while allowing maximum flexibility within the general topic areas. Research careers in ecology, behavior, and evolution can be found in universities, government agencies, and the biotechnology industry. More applied careers are equally varied: recent graduates now work in forestry and wildlife management, as ecological consultants for US and foreign governments and private industry, as teachers, or in new fields such as ecological medicine and epidemiology, environmental design and planning, restoration ecology and conservation biology.

The major requirements below ONLY apply to students who were admitted to UC San Diego in Fall 2018. 

Lower-Division Requirements

  • Biology: BILD 1, 2, 3, and 4
  • Chemistry: CHEM 6A, 6B, and 6C
  • Mathematics: MATH 10A, 10B, and 11  or 20A, 20B, and 11
  • Physics: PHYS 1A/1AL, 1B/1BL, and 1C/1CL or 2A, 2B, and 2C

Upper-Division Requirements

Note: Any given course can only satisfy one major requirement

  • Genetics (BICD 100)
  • Introduction to Ecology (BIEB 102)
  • Evolution (BIEB 150)
  • EBE Core Courses - complete four of the following courses:
    • Ecology Laboratory (BIEB 121)
    • Molecular Methods in Evolution & Ecology Lab (BIEB 123)
    • Plant Ecology (BIEB 126)
    • Insect Diversity (BIEB 128)
    • Marine Conservation Biology (BIEB 130)
    • Marine Invertebrate Ecology Lab (BIEB 131)
    • Aquatic Ecology Lab (BIEB 135)
    • Biodiversity (BIEB 140)
    • Computer Modeling in Evolution and Ecology (BIEB 143)
    • Genome Diversity and Dynamics (BIEB 146)
    • Evolution of Infectious Disease (BIEB 152)
    • Evolutionary Inquiry (BIEB 154)
    • Population Genetics (BIEB 156)
    • Animal Behavior & Communication (BIEB 166)
    • Animal Communication Lab (BIEB 167)
    • Ecosystems/Global Change (BIEB 174)
    • Conservation and the Human Predicament (BIEB 176)
    • The following Scripps Institution of Oceanography courses may be taken and applied to the EBE Core Courses requirement: SIO 123, 125, 126, 127, 129, 131, 132, 134, 147, 181 and 189.  Students are required to meet the School of Biological Sciences residency requirement .
  • EBE Lab - complete one of the following courses:
    • Ecology Laboratory (BIEB 121)
    • Molecular Methods in Evolution & Ecology Lab (BIEB 123)
    • Marine Invertebrate Ecology Lab (BIEB 131)
    • Aquatic Ecology Laboratory (BIEB 135)
    • Computer Modeling in Evolution and Ecology (BIEB 143)
    • Animal Communication Lab (BIEB 167)

Note: some of the EBE courses may not be offered every year. For that reason, it is recommended that students take as many required courses as possible when the courses are offered.

  • Biology Lab - complete one of the following courses:
    • Biochemical Techniques (BIBC 103)
    • Chemistry of Biological Interactions (BIBC 151)
    • Eucaryotic Genetics Laboratory (BICD 101)
    • Plant Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology Lab (BICD 123)
    • Laboratory in Molecular Medicine (BICD 145)
    • Ecology Lab (BIEB 121)
    • Molecular Methods in Evolution & Ecology Lab (BIEB 123)
    • Marine Invertebrate Ecology Lab (BIEB 131)
    • Aquatic Ecology Lab (BIEB 135)
    • Computer Modeling in Evolution and Ecology (BIEB 143)
    • Animal Communication Lab (BIEB 167)
    • Recombinant DNA Techniques  (BIMM 101)
    • Laboratory in Microbiology (BIMM 121)
    • Bioinformatics Laboratory (BIMM 143)
    • Animal Physiology Lab (BIPN 105)
    • Neurobiology Lab (BIPN 145)
    • BISP 196/197/199 (at least 4 units)
  • Biology Electives - complete at least eight to twelve units of upper-division coursework offered by the UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences.  Number of elective units are variable depending on the EBE Core courses and upper-division lab option selected (a total of 48 upper division units is required for completion of the major).
    • Upper-division Biology elective units may be completed with courses numbered 100-189 taken through UC San Diego’s School of Biological Sciences.  Elective units may include one quarter of BISP 195, up to four BIxx 194s, and one quarter of either BISP 193 or BISP 196/197/199. Electives may also include SIO 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133, 134, 138, 147, 181, and 189.  Students are required to meet the School of Biological Sciences residency requirement .
    • Only one BISP 196/197/199 can apply towards the major.  Subsequent quarters of BISP 196, 197 or 199 may be applied toward college and university requirements.
     

Additional Requirements

Minimum Grade Requirement

  • All courses required and used toward any biology major requirements must be taken for a letter grade and completed with a C- or better.
  • The minimum grade requirement applies to all lower-division, upper-division, required courses taken in other departments, as well as courses transferred and used toward major requirements.
  • Exceptions will be made for those required courses that have a P/NP only grading option (e.g., BISP 199).
  • The minimum major GPA requirement is 2.0.

Please note: The degree audit may not automatically reject D grades for the major. If your degree audit appears to apply a course in which you have earned a D to a requirement for the major, please contact a biology advisor.

Upper-Division Unit Requirement

To receive a Bachelor of Science from UC San Diego, all students must complete 48 or more units of upper-division course work within the major.

Biology Residency Requirement

To receive a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from UC San Diego, all students must complete at least twenty units of upper-division coursework in the School of Biological Sciences with a grade of C- or better. This coursework must directly apply to the student’s Biology major requirements, and must be taken while officially enrolled at UC San Diego. Courses completed outside of the UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences will not be counted toward the residency requirement.