Integrated Biology and Chemistry

Examine life from atoms to ecosystems.

What are the elemental building blocks of the universe and all organisms? How do organisms learn to survive their changing environments and how to do they adapt? Where are the frontiers of chemistry and biology taking us next?

Programs on the Integrated Biology and Chemistry Path show how life and matter are connected on many levels. Through lab experiments, field work, hands-on research, and science writing, you’ll gain the full range of skills needed to launch your career as a scientist.

Biology and chemistry, together

Biology and chemistry are integrally connected. In programs on this Path, you’ll dive into both subjects together, giving you a more complete scientific perspective on how life functions on many levels.

Learn by doing through unprecedented access to our forests, shorelines, high-tech scientific instruments, and exceptional lab facilities.

  • Investigate organisms in their environments
  • Study chemical reactions critical to living systems
  • Analyze samples to understand biochemical processes
  • Solve problems using both biological and chemical knowledge
  • Become an ambassador for science

With knowledge of both biology and chemistry, you’ll be ready to tackle challenges in graduate school, your career, and the world at large.

Highlights of this Path

State-of-the-art labs

Get hands-on experience in chemistry and biology labs where you’ll learn the collaborative and analytical skills professional scientists use every day. 

On this Path, you’ll have access to labs for:

  • Analytical chemistry
  • Biochemistry
  • Bioinformatics 
  • Computer applications 
  • General chemistry
  • Microbiology
  • Molecular biology 
  • Organic chemistry 
  • Physiology
  • Tissue culture 
  • Virology

You’ll also get to use the local forest and shorelines as living laboratories to explore questions of biological diversity, organismal behavior, water quality, nitrogen cycling, and more.

Get hands-on with scientific instruments

The independence and support you get as an undergrad scientist at Evergreen is a one-of-a-kind experience. In programs on this Path, you’ll learn to prepare and run your own samples and get to know advanced scientific instruments well enough to put them on your resume.

Graduating with skills in using these instruments will give you an edge over competition when applying for graduate schools, research opportunities, and jobs in the field.

Learn more about the instruments.

Undergraduate research experiences

Faculty on this Path are passionate about their fields and often invite their students to participate in ongoing research. You’ll have opportunities to get to know your faculty, learn about their projects, and join them in doing professional research.

You’ll enjoy more access to the whole scientific process as an undergrad, making you stand out to graduate schools and employers after you graduate.

Internships and independent learning contracts

Faculty on this Path are passionate about helping you study what you’re most interested in. Sometimes that means letting you step out of the classroom for an independent experience such as internship or a learning contract of your own design.

Every year, Evergreen students take on life-changing internships with local organizations or government institutions. An opportunity like this could launch you into a career in the field where you can make a lasting impact on scientific work in Washington state and beyond.

Showcase your knowledge

You’ll have opportunities to share your passion for science and gain skills as an educator. You can get paid lab positions, become a tutor in the QuaSR (Qualitative and Symbolic Reasoning) Center, and get involved with outreach experiences such as the annual science carnival that attracts kids from K–12 schools around the region.

Campus forest and beach

Evergreen’s campus is a living laboratory you can learn from every day. The campus forest is the perfect place to learn how to measure the forest ecosystem and how to manage and conserve vital natural areas.

Evergreen’s beach gives you amazing opportunities to get hands-on with marine biology and aquatic sciences. You’ll learn to identify and analyze marine life and gain an understanding of human impacts on the shorelines and oceans.

Science Support Center

The Science Support Center is the hub for all science operations at Evergreen. It’s home to a vast array of equipment and supplies. If you’re conducting independent research, this is where you’ll go to secure lab space, connect with technicians, check out equipment, and more.

This Path can prepare you for careers in

  • Bioinformatics
  • Chemistry
  • Ecology
  • Education
  • Forensic science
  • Medical labs
  • Medicine
  • Pharmacology
  • Research science
  • Science writing
  • Veterinary medicine

Graduate school opportunities beyond this Path

  • Biochemistry 
  • Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Chemistry
  • Environmental studies
  • Medical school
  • Public health
Faculty on this Path
Title Expertise
Bond, Robin analytical chemistry
Bopegedera, Dharshi physical chemistry
Brabban, Andrew biology, genetics, microbiology
Chowdary, Krishna physics
Dirks, Clarissa biology, virology, molecular biology
Fischer, Dylan forest and plant ecology
Kugel, Amanda anatomy, physiology
LeRoy, Carri freshwater ecology, quantitative biology, environmental education
McKinstry, Lydia organic chemistry
Murray, Nancy neurobiology
Paros, Michael veterinary medicine
Prouty, Carolyn health science, public health, bioethics
Schofield, Paula organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, biochemistry
Sunderman, Rebecca physical and inorganic chemistry
Withey, John ecology, conservation biology, wildlife biology
Catalog Offerings for 2022-23
Title Paths Class Standing Credits
Algebraic Thinking
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Biology Laboratory Skills: Post-Pandemic Hands-On Learning
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
2
Biology Laboratory Skills: Post-Pandemic Hands-On Learning
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
2
Calculus and Analytical Geometry I
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Calculus and Analytical Geometry II
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Calculus and Analytical Geometry III
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Capstone Projects in Environmental Research
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
8, 12
Chemistry Laboratory Skills: Post-Pandemic Hands-On Learning
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
2
Chemistry Laboratory Skills: Post-Pandemic Hands-On Learning
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
2
Environmental Analysis
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
0, 16
Integrated Natural Science
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Matter and Motion: The Physical Science Behind Climate Change
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Microbiology and Molecular Biology Laboratory Skills: Post-Pandemic Hands-On Learning
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
2
Molecule to Organism
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Precalculus I
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Precalculus II
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Science from the Inside Out
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Statistics I and II: Accelerated
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Undergraduate Research with M. Paros
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
0
Water Quality in the Pacific Northwest: Chemistry, Organisms, Ecology
  • Junior
  • Senior
8, 16
Catalog Offerings for 2023-24
Title Paths Class Standing Credits
Algebraic Thinking
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Anthrozoology
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Atoms, Molecules, and Reactions
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4, 8, 16
Calculus and Analytical Geometry I
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Calculus and Analytical Geometry II
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Calculus and Analytical Geometry III
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Ecology of Grazing and Grasslands in the Pacific Northwest
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Environmental Biology and Chemistry
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Integrated Natural Science
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Precalculus I
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Precalculus II
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
4
Recipes: The Chemistry and Math of Food
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
14
Recipes: The Chemistry and Math of Food
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Recipes: The Chemistry and Math of Food
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
14
The Science of Animal Husbandry and Food Animal Systems
  • Freshman
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Undergraduate Research with M. Paros
  • Sophomore
  • Junior
  • Senior
16
Undergraduate Research with N. Murray
  • Junior
  • Senior
16

Programs planned 2021-25

Preparatory

  • Analyzing Permaculture Systems
  • Mathematics in Geology
  • Chemistry Counts

Exploratory

  • Integrated Natural Sciences (annual)
  • General Biology (annual)

Advanced

  • Molecule to Organism (annual)
  • Environmental Analysis (2020-21 and every 2 years)
  • Atoms, Molecules and Reactions (2021-22 and every 2 years)
  • Environmental Biology and Chemistry (2021-22 and every 2 years)

Fields of Study related to this Path