Type | Public |
---|---|
Established | 1869 |
Dean | Saara J DeWalt |
Academic staff | 139 tenured and tenure-track faculty members |
Students | 2,338 students (2,075 Undergraduate; 259 Graduate; 4 Non-Degree) |
Location | Minneapolis and St. Paul , MN, , |
Campus | Urban |
Website | www.cbs.umn.edu |
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The College of Biological Sciences (CBS) is one of seven freshman-admitting colleges at the University of Minnesota. Established in 1869 as the College of Science, the College of Biological Science is now located across both the Minneapolis and the St. Paul campuses. As of June 29, 2023, the dean of the College of Biological Sciences is Dr. Saara J DeWalt. [1]
The College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota is one of the few colleges nationwide devoted to biological sciences. It conducts research on a range of applications in human health, agriculture, biotechnology and environmental sciences. [2] College of Biological Sciences undergraduates have historically ranked highly at the University of Minnesota, with the 2008 incoming freshman class having the highest class rank and ACT scores of any college within the university system. [3]
In 1887, the Animal Science Department was established in the College of Science, Letters, and Arts, followed by the Botany Department being created in 1891. Eight years later, the Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station was established with a forestry training program. It is now the site for the "Nature of Life" program CBS students must attend for four days in the summer before their freshman year. Then the Agricultural Biochemistry Department was formed within the Institute of Agriculture. In 1928, Snyder Hall, named for agricultural scientist Harry Snyder, was built to house Agricultural Biochemistry. Snyder Hall is now the headquarters for CBS, located on the St. Paul campus. In 1973, the Biological Sciences Center was built to house the botany department and the Genetics and Cell Biology Department. [4]
In 1993, the Ecology Building was constructed on the St. Paul campus. Two years later, administration of the Bell Museum was transferred to the College of Natural Resources. In 1998, Dean Robert Elde led a university-wide reorganization to consolidate and realign departments in order to strengthen biological sciences and raise the university's national standing. The College of Biological Sciences’ (CBS) current structure grew out of that effort. [4]
In 2001, Biodale opened, offering biological research support services to faculty, students, and industry. It is currently one of the most used resources on the University's campus. In 2004, University Enterprise Laboratories, Inc. was dedicated. Founding sponsors included Xcel Energy, the City of St. Paul, the University of Minnesota, 3M, Medtronic, Dorsey & Whitney, Surmodics, Guidant, Boston Scientific, and Ecolab. [5]
Administrative offices for the College of Biological Sciences are located in Snyder Hall on the St. Paul campus. These include the Dean's Office, Communications, and Alumni Relations. Student services are located in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Building on the East Bank campus. The departments of Plant and Microbial Biology and Ecology, Evolution and Behavior are in adjacent buildings. The Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics is across the street. The Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics is located in Jackson Hall on the Minneapolis campus, and the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development is in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Building on the Minneapolis Campus.
The Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics and the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development are shared with the University of Minnesota Medical School. The Department of Plant and Microbial Biology is shared with the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS). The Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior remains exclusive to CBS with close ties to CFANS, which administers the Bell Museum of Natural History. The Department of Neuroscience and the Department of Microbiology—both part of the Medical School—are affiliated with CBS. The BioTechnology Institute is a joint effort of CBS and the Institute of Technology. CBS also operates two field stations—Cedar Creek Natural History Area, the birthplace of the modern science of ecosystem ecology, and Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories, used for education programs, field research, and public outreach.
The College of Biological Sciences shares several researches, education and outreach facilities.
Biodale, CBS's resource for research support services, houses $40 million in bioscience research equipment that is available to faculty and industry scientists. [4]
The Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics provides a hub for genomics researchers university-wide. Faculty conducts basic research in functional genomics of microbes and crop plants to identify innovative ways to make crops more resistant to disease and drought, clean up the environment, and improve human health.
The Molecular and Cellular Biology Building was opened in 2002 on the Minneapolis campus and houses classrooms and labs. It is home to the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics and the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development.
University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL) is a non-profit entity that provides lab space for biotech start-up companies. Sponsors include Xcel Energy, 3M, Allina, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Dorsey & Whitney, Ecolab, Guidant Corporation, and Surmodics.
Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories established in 1909, houses many buildings for research as well as the summer portion of the freshman program, "Nature of Life" which all incoming CBS freshman must attend before entering their first year at the university. This portion of Nature of Life prepares students for the upcoming year and gives them an idea of one of the research facilities provided by CBS and the university. The program continues for the next 4 semesters, during which each enrolled student is expected to fully immerse themselves into CBS and university-wide events and communities. [6]
Other research facilities include Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, the Ecology Building, Plant Growth Facilities such as the CBS Conservatory and Botanical Collection, and Snyder Hall/Gortner Laboratories/Biological Sciences Center complex.
In 1995, Edward B. Lewis (B.S. '39) received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovery of the collinearity principle in fruit flies, which revealed that the linear arrangement of genes on a chromosome corresponds to the development of body segments. The finding was later confirmed in humans.
In 1997, Paul D. Boyer won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of how cells make adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Boyer was on the faculty of the biochemistry department from 1945–1957.
G. David Tilman is the current director of Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve and member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is currently the most cited ecologist in the Web of Science database. [7]
In addition to the Nobel Prize winners for Physiology and biochemistry, other important research projects have been conducted by the university and CBS. Being a research based college, faculty and students often use related opportunities to research a variety of topics. [17]
In 2005, the College of Biological Sciences received a $2.8 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation which supported interdisciplinary training for ecologists and civil engineers. This grant was used to train graduate students in ecology, civil engineering, and geology to study the combined effects of physical and biological changes on environmental quality, focusing on the Mississippi River watershed. [18]
The College of Biological Sciences received a $8.5 million dollar grant from the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE) in 2006. Projects included bio-energy and bio-products, economic and policy assessments, production and distribution of hydrogen, carbon sequestration, Nanotechnology, solar thermal heating systems, and conversion of livestock waste to energy and products. [18]
Many CBS students are also involved in student organizations related to the biological sciences. Administrative sponsored student clubs include:
University of Minnesota students also have the opportunity to create their own student groups. [19] Examples of these student groups include:
The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent for most of its history, but became officially affiliated with the University of Chicago on July 1, 2013. It also collaborates with numerous other institutions.
Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This medical institution, then called Cooper Medical College, was acquired by Stanford in 1908. The medical school moved to the Stanford campus near Palo Alto, California, in 1959.
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The University of California, Davis College of Biological Sciences was established in 2005 and is one of four colleges and five schools on the campus of the University of California, Davis. Davis is the only UC campus that boasts a college dedicated solely to the study of biology, and is one of the only universities in the US to have such an institution. The college offers ten undergraduate majors and six minors, and has eight interdisciplinary graduate groups. The majors housed in the CBS were previously part of the Division of Biological Sciences since 1971.
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