Additional courses selected from a broad range of approved options allow the student to focus on either terrestrial or freshwater ecology. Opportunities for Botany graduates occur in teaching, research, consulting and management. Honors programs may lead to graduate work in the Sciences, Social Sciences, Agriculture, or Natural Resources Institute. Botany graduates can also apply their training to careers in agriculture, conservation and environmental protection, forestry, freshwater biology, horticulture and wildlife management. Their work probes diseases of humans and animals, the molecular organization of living things, the process of evolution, the genetic code, cell growth and metabolic regulation, immunology, industrial applications of microbial reactions, waste disposal, and control of the activity of microorganisms in the environment.
Microbiology offers courses in ecology, genetics, cell biology, evolution and other topics.
Current developments such as cloning, recombinant DNA and gene sequencing are explored. The major and honors programs in Biochemistry are designed for students interested in the Chemistry of biological processes and substances. The honors program in biotechnology offers a mixture of courses in microbiology, chemistry, molecular biology and genetics, with an emphasis on the use of new techniques, such as recombinant DNA technology, to solve basic and applied problems in biology. Microbiology is a useful preparation for those who want to enrol in professional programs such as medicine, dentistry or veterinary science. Advanced study at the graduate level is necessary for those who wish to teach or conduct research.