What is Biology?
Biology is the science of life. The vast scope of its subject matter makes biology an extremely diverse field of study. Our faculty brings decades of experience to the classrooms, ensuring a well-rounded education for all students.
Biology at UMass Amherst
The UMass Amherst Biology Department is made up of around 50 faculty members, and 30 staff members. We offer two undergraduate programs, a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. There are close to 2,000 Biology and Neuroscience Undergraduate Students. The department strives to provide high quality undergraduate education that allows students to tailor the program to their interests.
Our Curriculum is designed to encompass perspectives that range from the planetary to the submicroscopic. The practice of biology involves both systematic observations, often aided by sophisticated instruments, and experimentation. Our students work in classrooms, laboratories, internships and in the field to practice their logical and quantitative thinking.
A series of microbial art products created by students in the Summer Research Intensive at Umass 2025 offered by the Riley Lab
Students collected samples from the campus pond during the Summer Research Intensive Program hosted by the Riley lab in 2022. This creature is from the genus Desmidium being examined under 40X power using a compound microscope
Students from the class Writing in Biology measure DBH on a large Sugar Maple on the North Amherst Common
TA Meeting for Biol 151
Students in the Gene and Genome Analysis class characterize the activity of a novel gene in Arabidopsis
