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School of Biological Sciences School of Biological Sciences

Ecology, Behavior and Evolution (BI30)

Description, major requirements and advising resources for the Ecology, Behavior and Evolution (BI30) Major in the School of Biological Sciences.

The Lower-Divison and Upper-Division Requirements listed on this page only apply to students who were admitted to UC San Diego in Fall 2024.

Older major requirements can be referenced within the General Catalog Archive.

Description of the Major

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.

Lower-Division Requirements

  • Biology: BILD 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5*
  • 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
*BILD 5 is required for Fall 2024 admitted students

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 upper division BIEB courses (4 units each)
  • 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)
    • Intro to Q-Modeling Biology Lab (BIEB 141)
    • Computer Modeling in Evolution and Ecology (BIEB 143)
    • Microbiome Function Laboratory (BIEB 159)
    • 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)
    • Intro to Q-Modeling Biology Lab (BIEB 141)
    • Computer Modeling in Evolution and Ecology (BIEB 143)
    • Microbiome Function Laboratory (BIEB 159)
    • 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.
    • 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.
Coursework taken outside of the School of Biological Sciences may be applicable toward the major, assuming the course has been previously reviewed and approved and meets minimum criteria. Non-reviewed coursework requires an Undergraduate Student Petition for consideration.

Advising Documents and Resources

Additional Major Requirements

In addition to programmatic course requirements, all majors offered by the School of Biological Sciences have a minimum grade, upper division unit and residency requirement. All coursework, along with additional major requirements, must be complete in order to earn a degree from the School.

Program Learning Outcomes & Goals for BioSci Majors

UC San Diego is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Interested in how your curriculum is built? View our Inventory of Educational Effectiveness Indicators. You can find out more about accreditation and WASC at UC San Diego Accreditation. Additionally, the School of Biological Sciences' Program Learning Outcomes align with knowledge and compentencies mastered by undergraduate students upon completion of degree requirements.