Our Mission
The mission of the Department of Biological Sciences is to train undergraduate and graduate students in the principles of modern biology and to extend the understanding of those principles by conducting biological research. Further, the expertise which resides in the faculty shall be made available to benefit the citizens of New Orleans and the surrounding regions. This Mission Statement affirms the centrality of teaching, research and service as the core of this Department. This core is manifested in the following ways:
Educational Missions: Undergraduate Education
- Provide courses leading to the Bachelor of Sciences degree for biological sciences majors
- Provide courses needed to fulfill degree requirements for non-biology science majors and for non-science majors
- Provide courses of interest to students of non-degree programs
Educational Missions: Graduate Education
- Provide graduate education in biology leading to the Master of Sciences degree
- Develop and implement a graduate education curriculum leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Conservation Biology
Research Missions
- Provide the basic physical and fiscal infrastructure which enables faculty to undertake independent and original research in the biological sciences
- Obtain extramural funding to support independent faculty research in biology
- Train new research scientists by supporting interested undergraduate and graduate students
- Communicate research findings to the scientific community at the regional, national and international levels
Service Missions
- Support the University's efforts to recruit academically qualified students
- Support the University's efforts to retain students who are not academically successful but who, by virtue of their intelligence and desire, genuinely work to achieve their academic goals
- Encourage the faculty to serve as members of ad hoc journal review boards, proposal review panels, and officers in professional societies.
- Support the metropolitan area of New Orleans, the state, the nation and the global communities by providing professional biological expertise as needed to resolve educational, research and applied biological issues