{"id":27,"date":"2024-04-29T19:25:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T19:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2026-02-04T23:19:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T23:19:39","slug":"specialization","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/specialization\/","title":{"rendered":"Specialization Guidance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Students have the freedom to design their own program in Biology. You can choose 300- and 400-level courses based on your interests. Below are lists of suggested courses to consider for some Biology disciplines. Course descriptions are available in the VIU calendar (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.viu.ca\/programs\/courses\/biology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.viu.ca\/programs\/courses\/biology<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Organismal Biology \/ Ecology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>BIOL 310 &#8211; Invertebrate Zoology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 315 &#8211; Parasitology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 320 &#8211; Limnology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 322 &#8211; Terrestrial Ecosystems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 323 &#8211; Marine Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 324 &#8211; Diversity and Ecology of Fishes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL  325 &#8211; Ornithology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 332 &#8211; Microbial Ecology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 345 &#8211; Molecular Ecology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 351 &#8211; Population and Community Ecology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 360 &#8211; Animal Behaviour<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 372 &#8211; Plant Ecology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 375 &#8211; Ecological Methodology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 457 &#8211; Biodiversity and Conservation Biology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Microbiology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>BIOL 332 &#8211; Microbial Ecology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 333 &#8211; Laboratory Techniques in Molecular Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 334 &#8211; Virology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 336 &#8211; Bacterial Genetics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 432 &#8211; Applied Microbiology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 434 &#8211; The Microbiome<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 436 &#8211; Pathogenic Microbiology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cellular \/ Molecular Biology \/ Genetics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>BIOL 333 &#8211; Laboratory Techniques in Molecular Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 341 &#8211; Molecular Cell Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 342 &#8211; Principles of Biochemistry II<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 348 &#8211; Genomics and Bioinformatics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 350 &#8211; Plant Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 435 &#8211; Immunology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 443 &#8211; Developmental Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 445 &#8211; Molecular Genetics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 465 &#8211; Endocrinology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aquatic Biology &#8211; Marine, Freshwater<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>BIOL 310 &#8211; Invertebrate Zoology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 315 &#8211; Parasitology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 320 &#8211; Limnology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 323 &#8211; Marine Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 324 &#8211; Diversity and Ecology of Fishes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 351 &#8211; Population and Community Ecology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 360 &#8211; Animal Behaviour<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 375 &#8211; Ecological Methodology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 457 &#8211; Biodiversity and Conservation Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>RMOT 400 &#8211; Fisheries Management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any AQUA course<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Courses offered at the <a href=\"https:\/\/bamfieldmsc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre<\/a> can be transferred as Upper-Level Biology Electives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pre-Medicine \/ Pre-Dentistry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>BIOL 342 &#8211; Principles of Biochemistry II<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 435 &#8211; Immunology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 436 &#8211; Pathogenic Microbiology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 440 &#8211; Cancer Biology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BIOL 465 &#8211; Endocrinology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students have the freedom to design their own program in Biology. You can choose 300- and 400-level courses based on your interests. Below are lists of suggested courses to consider for some Biology disciplines. Course descriptions are available in the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/specialization\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/92"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}