One way of understanding whether or not the EBIO major is a good choice for a particular student is by looking at the mix of students who now take EBIO as a major. The 400 EBIO majors fall into four groups, as described below.

Pre-Health Science Students

Many EBIO majors are planning careers in health sciences. Large numbers of students enter the freshman class of any major university in the U. S. with the idea of ultimately obtaining an MD degree. Most of the individuals who begin as freshmen with the idea of going to medical school ultimately do other things. Some of them discover that their interests are developing along other lines, while others conclude that the intense competition related to grades and entrance exams preceding medical school, and the competition beyond that in medical school, will not be right for them.

EBIO is an excellent choice of major for students who are considering entry to medical school. As part of the EBIO major, students are required to take General Biology, Cell Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics which form the foundation for a successful application to medical school. Also, the major is broad enough to allow students to develop interests along other lines if they decide that medical school is not for them.

Majoring in EBIO offers unique opportunities to pre-health majors, due to the impact of the environment on human health and the role of population genetics in determining disease risk. A thorough education in environmental biology, ecology, and population genetics will impart a lasting benefit to current health-oriented students as the medical field will more forcefully move into these novel areas for years to come. For example, multiple aspects of the environment, from pollutants to components of the human diet, directly modulate the activity of human master control genes that make life-and-death decisions and have key roles in the development of virtually all chronic diseases (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc.), infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS and others), and even many mental and learning disorders (e.g. depression, attention deficit disorder). Furthermore, surprising genetic differences in disease risk among different human populations are beginning to be unraveled and will play a major role in providing optimal healthcare to people of different heritage and ethnicity.

Students interested in energy, biofuels, and solutions to global warming

EBIO is the only department on the Boulder campus that provides training in plant biology. Increased interest in plant biology arises from acute concern about food and fuel supplies for the expanding world's population in an age of global climate change. There are now exciting and important new career opportunities in the generation of biofuels, and one of the producers of such biofuels are plants. This field requires knowledge of the diversity of different plants and photosynthetic microbes, of how to maximize the production of useable forms of energy-rich carbon for biofuels, and of overall plant response to environmental threats by pests/pathogens as well as drought, salinity, and extreme heat or cold.

Students considering careers in Natural Resources Management, Environmental Consulting, Environmental Law, or Environmental Science.

A large number of EBIO majors would like to enter a career associated with some form of environmental management, regulation, or consulting. The EBIO major is an ideal choice for such students as it provides the scientific foundation required to understand how natural ecosystems, communities, and populations interact with their surrounding environment and human influences that are progressively influencing the natural world. Issues such as the preservation of biodiversity, the health of ecosystems, and global ecology are all addressed in the courses offered as part of the EBIO major. When combined with courses in political science, environmental policy, economics and sociology, the EBIO major provides evidence of rigorous training in those disciplines required for a successful career in environmental management, regulation, or consulting.

Students Considering Graduate School

A second large proportion of EBIO majors are students who are considering post-graduate education in the field of biology. Many of these students will apply to graduate school in some biological discipline, while others may change their minds and seek employment with the bachelor's degree in biology. These students are often, but not always, strongly oriented toward ecological, environmental, or evolutionary subjects. Their interests include organisms in relation to the environment, biodiversity, environmental protection, plant sciences, animal behavior, physiology, conservation, and other related subdisciplines. All of these interests are appropriate for the EBIO major.

Students Who Just Like Biology

In addition to the students who are professionally or medically oriented and those who are thinking about post-graduate education in the field of biology, the Department serves a large number of students (as many as 50%) who choose biology primarily because of their intrinsic interest in the subject, without considering either professional school or graduate school. In some cases, they may know very well that they will be working in another field after graduation. For example, they may be entering the family business or they may seek general employment without attempting to emphasize biology. Others will seek biologically oriented careers at the bachelor's level, but will be flexible enough to accept other employment if no biologically oriented jobs are available.

Students who are not necessarily seeking education beyond the bachelor's degree are welcome in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Because EBIO is a part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department reflects the values of the College, which are based upon a broad education within which the major is an area of greater concentration, but still with the general aim of broad exposure to many subjects. The bachelor's degree with a major in EBIO is intended to be a milestone all by itself, and does not necessarily have to lead to graduate school or professional school.

Education / Law / Others

In addition to the five large groups mentioned above, the Department contains a variety of other students. Some students are specifically oriented toward K-12 teaching, while others are thinking of law school or possibly even business prospects that are biologically oriented, such as aquaculture. Because the major is broad, all of these students will find the curriculum appropriate to their needs.

Alternative Majors

Students must make choices between EBIO and other majors that are either biological or environmental. The most difficult choices typically relate to three other majors offered on the campus: (1) Environmental Studies, (2) Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and (3) Integrative Physiology.

Environmental Studies

The Environmental Studies major is operated by a group of cooperating departments including EBIO, Geography, Chemistry, Political Science, Economics, Philosophy, and Geology. It is mainly an option for students who are interested in the environmental sciences, but do not wish to focus on a particular discipline.

Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB)

The Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) tends to cover biological topics at the level of cells and below. The curricula of the MCDB and EBIO departments are very different. EBIO deals primarily with organisms, communities, and ecosystems, whereas MCDB focuses on the molecular phenomena that occur inside cells.

Integrative Physiology

The mission of the Department of Integrative Physiology (IPHY) is to discover and promote knowledge of how humans and other animals function at the level of cells, organs, and systems. The primary difference between a major in IPHY and EBIO is a greater focus on how organisms function in IPHY and a greater focus on how organisms relate to their environment in EBIO.