The WWU Biology Department provides an outstanding and inclusive learning environment that integrates education, scholarship, and service, actively engages students in the biological sciences, and fosters their development as lifelong learners. Our curriculum spans subdisciplines from marine ecology to developmental genetics to bioinformatics and provides abundant opportunities for interactions with educators who are national leaders in biology education at the college level.
The summer 2024 SURP program participants, along with Biology faculty and staff during the kickoff event.Graduate Student Summer Research Support
The Biology Department supports approximately 20 graduate student researchers, who work as Research or Teaching assistants during the academic year. During the summer, we rely on and are very grateful to all of our alumni, and others for their generous donations that promote the education and training of new scientists across all disciplines and support their summer research endeavors. Your gift here will directly support the graduate students in our department to continue their research progress throughout the summer months. We thank all who have contributed and have experienced first-hand the significance of research and education in WWU Biology. Gifts of every size make a difference!
Biology Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)
Summer 2022 brought the launch of the new Biology Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP). This program is largely supported by generous donors who are interested in helping to offer full-time summer research opportunities for undergraduates in Biology labs here at Western. The program is led by a rotating group of several faculty across biological disciplines, who mentor students and give undergraduate participants the opportunity to build their scientific communication skills, find opportunities for career development and planning for next steps in their scientific journey. You can read a great article about the program here. One of the best aspects of the SURP program is that students engaged in a vast array of research within the participating labs, from molecular and cellular to ecological and organismal. We are excited to build upon this program for years to come and invest in our undergraduate's success!
Joann Otto Microscopy Fund
This fund was established by the late Dr. Joann Otto, Emerita Faculty and long-time Department Chair of Biology to make microscopy more accessible to all students. The Biology department is grateful to our donors that her dedication and commitment to student success will continue on through this endowment. A donation to this fund will provide valuable hands-on research experiences to our students using state-of-the-art scientific equipment. Through funding obtained from federal agencies and generous donors to this fund, Biology has been able to provide opportunities for students to learn cutting-edge fluorescent and confocal microscopy in research labs and the classroom. This technology is so vital to many disciplines and is used by students to investigate many biological questions, including zebrafish development, plant fertilization, yeast mating systems, and protein interactions. The Joann Otto Microscopy Fund is an endowment created to support efforts to continuously update and modernize our microscopes for the broadest use.
Biology Department Insect Collection
With approximately 75,000 insect specimens, the WWU insect collection (WWUC) is the largest public insect collection in Western Washington. Our large collection includes examples of the first "murder hornets" identified here in Whatcom County, fossilized insects, and spectacular butterflies and beetles from the PNW and beyond. To share some of the amazing specimens in our collection we initiated a quarterly Insect Collection Community Open House, a free, family-friendly event that is open to the public. The events have been hugely successful and your gift here will help support ongoing curatorial work, specimen acquisition and storage, and continued community engagement for all ages. Read more about the open house in WWU News. Join us for the spring quarter Insect Collection Open House on June 1, 2024 from 1-4pm!
General Biology Fund
A gift to the Biology Department will fund student research and travel to conferences, career networking opportunities, and a diversity of seminar speakers, including alumni, to speak directly with our students. We have several important scholarships that support first-generation and underrepresented students. We also have several student initiatives including the Biology Student Mentoring Program, which was initiated by our Student Ambassadors and is a diverse student-led network of Biology Department majors who will foster supportive and inclusive mentor/mentee relationships with the goal of increasing equitable access and retention in STEM.
