Biology
I learned by doing. I gathered snake tissue in Thailand with Dr. Karns, which led me to an internship at the Field Museum in Chicago and then to graduate school to continue the research I began at Hanover College.
Heather Andrews
Graduate Student, Indiana University
Hanover College, Class of 2005
At Hanover College, students have life-changing experiences. Whether it's learning about something you are passionate about, meeting different people, experiencing new things or enjoying the college lifestyle, Hanover provides students with exciting opportunities.
Why Study Biology?
Deciding upon a major can be an intimidating task, and you may be wondering if biology would be a good fit for you. If any of the following is true for you, then the biology department at Hanover College may be just want you have been searching for.
You enjoy:
• Performing lab work
• Solving abstract problems
• Conducting research
You want to:
• Use scientific rules to solve problems
• Test theories
• Explore possibilities
• Research your interests
• Travel abroad
• Have a meaningful and fun academic and social experience
What Hanover Biology Offers
The Hanover biology program provides students with big opportunities to help spur intellectual and personal growth. This is done through small student-to-faculty ratios and a great deal of personal attention from faculty and staff members who are invested in the success and happiness of their students. In fact, our program is specifically designed to help students discover and purse their own areas of interest.
The program's introductory sections explore the breadth of biology, allowing you to experience various areas and narrow your choices for future studies and careers. As you progress through the program to upper-level courses, you will be able to choose what you want to study according to your own interests and skills. The culmination of your work will be a collaborative independent study, completed with the supervision and guidance of a faculty member. During this time you will have the freedom to research, explore, and work on a project of your choice. Students are encouraged to present the results of their independent study at local and/or national forums.
Hanover biology offers inclusive programs in biomedical sciences, cellular/molecular biology and physiology, environmental sciences, and field biology.
Highlights
Hands-on Experience
At Hanover, students are encouraged to roll up their sleeves and immerse themselves in hands-on opportunities, like conducting virus research at Hanover's research lab or taking advantage of the unique opportunity for undergraduate students to work on human cadavers.
Spring Term
Indulge your curiosity and feed your mind without the restrictions and demands of a typical semester's full load of courses. As a Hanover student, you will have an entire month to fully immerse yourself in one subject with no other class distractions. Imagine yourself in Belize studying rainforest and seashore-related flora and fauna, or exploring the thousands of species available in our advanced labs and our 600 acres of woodlands and riverbanks overlooking the Ohio River.
Faculty Accessibility
The breadth, depth, and accessibility of Hanover College's biology faculty is unique for an institution of its size. The highly specialized and dedicated expert staff includes an immunologist, a cellular biologist, and a forest ecologist. What's more, students have the opportunity to work side-by-side with their professors, doing collaborative research through Independent Studies.
Opportunities for Research
Hanover College's biology program will provide you with opportunities for research through the college's facilities, as well as through relationships with other top universities, including Ohio State University, Indiana State University, and Ohio University.
Some recent research projects include:
- Ashley Linville's "Analysis of Water Quality in Southern Indiana Streams Through the Use of Macroinvertebrates." This project led Ashley to understand and present compelling analysis on the origins of contaminants.
- Heather Andrew's "Phylogeography of Enhydris plumbea in Southeast Asia Using Mitochondrial DNA."
- Kyle Walden's "Determining Fertility Rates and Population Models in White-Tailed Deer with Histories of Hunting."
- Valeria Horobik's work in "Spatial and microhabitat variation in Lyme Disease risk in Southeastern New York."
- Jessica Walker's work with the "Role of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, protein kinase C, protein tyrosine kinases, and MAP kinase in the motility and chemotaxis of bovine neutrophils."
Career Opportunities
By providing students with a liberal arts education, biology at Hanover makes for a meaningful education and preparation for a variety of career and/or graduate and medical school opportunities.
Previous graduates' careers and professional placements have included:
• Research Analyst (Natural Environmental Policy Institute)
• Secondary School Teacher (Memphis School District)
• Medical Doctor (Indianapolis)
• Professor of Law (Case-Western Reserve University)
Graduate and medical school placements have included:
• Indiana University
• University of Illinois
• Ohio State (Veterinary School)
• University of Chicago (Chicago Medical School)
• Norte Dame (School of Optometry)