Welcome to the Auburn University Department of Biological Sciences!

Auburn University’s Department of Biological Sciences (DBS) consists of ~40 faculty conducting research in a wide spectrum of areas within the biological sciences, ranging from the molecular to the ecosystem level, and utilizing laboratory- to field-based empirical and analytical approaches. The department also has a strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate education, and offer opportunities to participate in Biology Education Research.

In DBS, we have four core areas of research emphasis: 1) Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation, 2) Evolutionary Genetics and Systematics, 3) Physiological Adaptation and Functional Genomics, and 4) Host-Microbial Interactions. Notably, many of our faculty are multidisciplinary in their research, spanning two or more of these core areas. The department has >500 undergraduate majors and over 100 graduate students (Ph.D. and M.Sc.). For undergraduate students, we offer three majors through DBS: 1) Organismal Biology; 2) Microbial, Cellular & Molecular Biology, and; 3) Marine Biology. Furthermore, multiple formal options for specialization are offered within Microbial, Cellular & Molecular Biology as well as Organismal Biology.

Historically, DBS has maintained a strong commitment to a multifaceted education. For example, undergraduate students are actively encouraged to participate in research and internship opportunities local, nationally and internationally to complement their course work and graduate students can expand their research skillset with our Graduate Certificate in Computational Biology. Along with this, undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty in our department routinely win research and teaching excellence awards. A number of DBS undergraduate majors have been recognized as Goldwater Fellows, USA Today Academic All-Americans, and Fulbright and Gates-Cambridge Scholars and we routinely have several graduate students with NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, which testifies to the caliber of student that receive their education and training at Auburn University in general and DBS in particular.

Our department also has several research and educational facilities, ranging from the Auburn University Museum of Natural History housing numerous plant and animal collections, to state-of-the-art common-use laboratories for genetic/genomic analyses and microscopy.

Finally, we also have an extensive and highly dedicated support staff of course instructors and lecturers, museum collections managers, laboratory coordinators and managers, technicians, and administrative assistants who contribute greatly to our research, education, and outreach mission.

Welcome again and please explore our site.

Dr. Scott R. Santos, Chair
Department of Biological Sciences
101 Rouse Life Science Building
Auburn University, AL 36849-5407
(334) 844-7410

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