University of Nevada, Las Vegas - School of Life Sciences

ABOUT Biology is the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. The earth is filled with an enormous variety of living organisms; therefore, an understanding of the basic biological processes common to all organisms is essential to understanding the world. The School of Life Sciences’ curriculum meets the needs of students intending to enter the workforce or pursue advanced training in the sciences, medicine, and other professional and technical fields. In recent decades, great strides have been made in understanding important biological processes, particularly those at the molecular, cellular, and ecosystem levels. An understanding of biological systems depends, in part, on the principles of physics and chemistry; thus a firm background in the physical sciences is also important in the study of biology. For many, an undergraduate major in biology serves as a basis for postgraduate study in the life sciences. School of Life Sciences graduates have gone on to advanced graduate study, leading to careers in college or university teaching, basic and applied research, and public health. Many have entered professional programs in medicine, veterinary medicine, and dentistry. Other graduates have gone directly into secondary (high school) science teaching, the biomedical industry, independent laboratory research, natural resources management, or environmental education. The School of Life Sciences is one of the largest academic units on the UNLV campus. It has 30 full-time faculty members, 10 adjunct and research faculty, more than 1,900 undergraduate majors, and approximately 55 graduate students. The school’s offices and laboratories are located in four buildings: Juanita Greer White Hall (WHI), the Science and Engineering Building (SEB), the White Hall Annex (WHA2), and the Campus Lab Building (CLB). Research facilities on campus include centers for bioinformatics/biostatics with access to supercomputer facilities, confocal and biological imaging core with a high-speed laser-scanning microscope, genomics center, greenhouses, tissue culture facilities, environmental chambers, and modern animal care facilities.