Ecology, Behavior and Evolution (BI30)

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.

• 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

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.

• Major Check Worksheet
• Freshman and Transfer Sample Plan Lookup Tool