Joint Major in Biology and Climate

Climate change is one of the grand challenges of our time and the field of biology has important intersections with climate science, impacts, and solutions. Insights from the field of biology are essential to advancing many key areas of climate action and research such as nature-based climate solutions, incorporation of biological systems into global climate models, and the rapidly developing field of carbon offsets. Conversely, knowledge of the physical and social dimensions of climate change can advance work in traditional biological subdisciplines, given the wide-ranging impacts of climate change on biological systems. Our philosophy supports graduates who are practiced in systems thinking, computationally skilled, and impact literate.

Students pursuing the joint major in biology and climate will complete foundational coursework in biostatistics, ecology, and at least one other subdiscipline of biology. Students will select biology electives that support their intended career path. Students will also choose from a menu of climate courses that fulfill requirements across several dimensions of climate change. Foundational coursework in thermodynamics and computational or numerical methods, along with a choice of additional STEM breadth will ensure students are prepared for advanced study in climate or related programs. And, joint majors will complete a second course in statistics, supporting the philosophical goals of this program.

Our program is distinct from an environmental biology program - like all Hixon Center joint majors in climate, coursework in the joint major is designed to help students develop a holistic understanding of climate change, with emphasis on the interaction of physical, biological, and human systems.

Biology Courses

BIOL054 HM - Experimental Biology Laboratory
BIOL154 HM - Biostatistics
BIOL108 HM - Ecology and Environmental Biology
BIOL110 HM - Experimental Ecology Laboratory
And one of:
BIOL101 HM - Comparative Physiology
BIOL109 HM - Evolutionary Biology
BIOL113 HM - Molecular Genetics
And one Harvey Mudd seminar-style course (requiring student presentations and reading from the primary literature), some examples include:
BIOL121 HM - Marine Ecology
BIOL129 HM - Topics in Human Evolution
BIOL183 HM - Topics in Physiology
BIOL185 HM - Special Topics in Biology
BIOL189 HM - Topics in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
And 3 credits of upper division Biology elective (has BIOL046 HM as a prerequisite and has a course number >100 for HMC courses). Off-campus courses are permitted. Related non-biology technical courses may be substituted for advanced biology courses with permission of the department.

Climate Foundations

Students will complete a total of 9 credits of coursework in climate foundations.

3 credits in thermodynamics. Choose one course from among:
CHEM051 HM - Foundations of Physical Chemistry
ENGR082 HM - Chemical and Thermal Processes
PHYS117 HM - Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
and

3 credits in computational/numerical methods and/or scientific computing. Choose one course from among:
CHEM080 HM - Numerical Methods for the Central Science
CSCI144 HM - Scientific Computing
MATH164 HM - Scientific Computing
PHYS064 HM - Mathematical and Computational Methods for Physicists
and the remaining 3 credits can be selected from one of the following two areas: (1) the physics of electricity and magnetism or (2) differential equations. Electricity and Magnetism can be satisfied with PHYS051 HM . Differential Equations can be satisfied with MATH082 HM

Please visit our Course Descriptions page for a full list of approved courses, including off-campus courses.

Climate Kernel

Students will complete 3 credits of coursework addressing each of the following areas: Climate Dynamics, Climate Impacts, Climate Interventions, Climate Contexts, and Advanced Statistics for a total of 15 credits. Each climate joint major has a unique climate kernel tailored to the needs of the discipline.

CLES101 HM - Climate Dynamics
CLES131 HM - Data Science for Global Change Biology
and

3 credits in Climate Interventions. See our Course Descriptions page for a list of approved Interventions courses.

and

3 credits in Climate Contexts, which double count toward the HMC HSA requirement. See our Course Descriptions page for a list of approved Contexts courses.

and

3 credits in advanced statistics. Courses satisfying this requirement will have introductory statistics as a prerequisite. See our Course Descriptions page for a list of approved advanced statistics courses. Examples include MATH153 HM and MATH155 HM .

Colloquia & Capstone

Two semesters of BIOL191 HM - Biology Colloquium
Two semesters of CLES199 HM - Climate and Environment Colloquium
and

Capstone (6 Credits): Students will complete 3 credits in each semester of the fourth year.
BIOL193 HM - Senior Thesis Research: Biology
Or an approved biology-related Clinic:
- CSCI183 HM and CSCI184 HM
or
- Two from: ENGR111 HM , ENGR112 HM , ENGR113 HM
or
- MATH193 HM (taken twice)
or
- PHYS193 HM and PHYS194 HM