Take advantage of year-round research to earn your biology degree
The biology program at Eckerd College will teach you to think like a scientist, solving problems in new ways. Classes are small and our faculty attentive so by the time you graduate, your professors will know you well enough to write powerful recommendations for grad school or jobs.
Want to do original research? All you have to do is ask.
Only@Eckerd
More attention
Every Eckerd professor is available to students for a minimum of 8 hours a week – twice that of most other schools. That means closer relationships and better learning.
Hands-on learning
Use advanced equipment like our Zeiss AxioImager M2 Microscope with Apotome 2 optical sectioning and ADI physiology data acquisition kits, which can be used for everything from heart rate recordings to measuring the neural activity of a cockroach.
Year-round research
Our subtropical setting in Florida means lots of opportunities for field research on plants, animals and microbes virtually all year long. Nearby Tampa Bay is a scientific hub that includes hospitals, biomedical labs, federal and state wildlife agencies and research libraries.
In Their Own Words
“The best part about studying biology at Eckerd was the personal interactions I had with my professors. My professors made a concerted effort to be available to their students for questions or advice and I feel this greatly increased my understanding of the material. These interactions also made it so that I could do research and get hands-on mentoring on how to design and conduct a research project. The lab and research facilities were excellent and prepared me for working in other labs. The small class size and accessibility of the professors at Eckerd greatly positively impacted my learning experience, and I know these characteristics are hard to find at other universities.”
—Mishi Vachev ’19, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher at UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program
Beyond the Classroom
Are you interested in a career in the medicine or veterinary school?
Eckerd College’s Pre-health mentoring can help you complete the required courses and gain experience important for the next steps!
Work side by side with full-time professors to study how supplements might improve the cellular pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease or investigate how the smallest microbes influence the physiology of corals and other cnidarians.
Bio internships range from All Children’s Hospital, Egmont Key and Boyd Hill Nature Preserve to the Human Genetics Lab at Mass General, run by a Harvard Med School prof and Eckerd grad.
Three-week Winter Term classes have studied tropical ethnobotany in Belize, natural history of the Galapagos, and shadowed physicians in Spain.
Study Abroad Pics on FlickrEckerd College Biology news
- Three Tritons find their match in highly competitive Genetic Counseling graduate programs - May 7, 2025
- College professor works with students in Honey Bee Neurobiology Lab - May 6, 2025
- Alumnus earns a coveted spot in the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program - April 22, 2025
Popular classes
Neuroscience
In neuroscience, students study the function of the nervous system from molecules to behavior. The lab explores how neuron and muscle function using intracellular and extracellular recording techniques commonly utilized in research labs.
Biology of Amphibians & Reptiles
Students gain hands-on experience studying reptiles and amphibians (“herps”) in their native habitats across numerous field sites across Florida. Students develop lab, field, and reading/writing skills in the scientific study of herps as well as practical skills related to conservation and management of these species while interacting with active professional herpetologists.
Facilities
Lab classrooms in the James Center for Molecular and Life Sciences make learning seamless – many classes are taught right in the lab space – and the coffee shop in the lobby keeps those neurons firing.
Biology classes also make use of our greenhouse, native campus palm hammock, on-campus farm and the local intercoastal waterways.
Outcomes
What can I do with a biology degree?
- Biologist or education specialist at an aquarium
- Data analyst
- Field technician in ecology or wildlife biology
- Fishery observer
- Head brewer at a cidery
- Lab manager
- Medical scribe
- Molecular microbiologist
- Neuroscientist
- Physician
- Physician’s associate
- Research technician
- Scientist in an environmental consulting firm
- Scientist in city, county, state, or federal government agency
- Teacher/educator
- Textbook illustrator
- Veterinarian
- Wildlife biologist
- Zoologist
Where our biology majors go to graduate school
- American University
- Columbia University
- Clemson University
- Cornell University
- Duke University
- Emory University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- MIT
- Texas A&M University
- Tufts University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Vanderbilt University
Where our biology majors go to work
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
- All Children’s Hospital
- American Cancer Society
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- Moffitt Cancer Center
- Tampa Bay Research Institute
- Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments
