WKU Biology leads study abroad classes, field courses, and research programs throughout the region and around the world. We manage over 1,600 acres of varied habitats through our Green River Preserve and have a close relationship with Mammoth Cave National Park. WKU Biology students have worked and studied alongside our faculty in places such as Australia, Botswana, Costa Rica, Ecuador, England, the Galapagos, Ghana, Grenada, Kenya, Namibia, Peru, Portugal, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Closer to home, our faculty and students carry out research in Alaska, the Appalachians, California, and the Atlantic coast of Florida.

Meaningful professional experiences exist right here at WKU. We offer employment opportunities to work in preparing and serving as a teaching assistant in introductory labs. Many of our students participate in internships with regional hospitals, veterinarians, other health service providers, zoological institutions, museums and herbariums, businesses, and state or federal agencies. These opportunities allow you to earn credit while you learn, and maybe even get paid in the process!

Preparing for a successful career in the biological sciences relies on having access to cutting-edge equipment, technology, resources, and instructional approaches. Our Biotechnology Center houses equipment for molecular biology and biomedical research.The Southern Kentucky Center For Advanced Microscopy offers state-of-the-art imaging facilities including transmission and scanning electron microspores, epifluorescence, and confocal microscopy. The Center for Biodiversity Studies coordinates, studies, and promotes biodiversity issues throughout Kentucky. And our classes, laboratories, and curriculum are designed to give you access to all of these resources and more!

Being a WKU Biology student means more than taking classes – you’re part of a community of people with shared interests. We sponsor numerous student clubs and organizations – many specific to different career interests – that can help you make connections and friends, and eventually take a leadership role. You can work for the department as a technician helping to prepare labs, as part of our office staff who keep the department running, or as one of our Bio Ambassadors who help recruit the next generation of WKU Biology majors. You might also decide to serve as an undergraduate teaching assistant and teach others what you’ve already learned!

WKU Biology graduates go onto great things. Our alumni are employed as laboratory scientists at universities, federal research facilities, state crime labs, and in industry. WKU Biology also prepares more graduates for admission to medical, dental, veterinary, optometry, physical therapy, and other professional schools than any other comprehensive university in Kentucky. Through our partnership with the University of Kentucky and Med Center Health, you even have the opportunity to attend medical school right here in Bowling Green!