Department of Biological Sciences

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Department of Biological Sciences

• Science 2 Fall 2007

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Who Am I?

• Dr Michael Sneary
• B.S. Biology, St Marys College
• M.A., Ph.D. Anatomy, U. C. San Francisco
• NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Electrical Engineering
  and Computer Science, U.C. Berkeley
• At SJSU since 1990
• Research Collaborations EECS, U.C. Berkeley,
  NASA Ames and the Technical University, Munich
  Germany

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What Do I Do?

• Teaching
• General Physiology and Neurophysiology
• Physiology for Engineers (BioMedical Devices)
• Research
• Neurobiology and evolution of sensory systems
• Advising
• Systems Physiology and Pre-Medical
• Director of Field Studies in Natural History
• Other
• Backpacker, Cross Country and Telemark Skier

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Nature of our programs

• Personal interactions with faculty members in
  lower and upper division courses
• Hands-on, laboratory-intensive and
  field-intensive lower and upper division classes
• Opportunities for undergraduate research
• Personalized advising by faculty members

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Whats Needed to Succeed?

• Desire
• YOU must want to be a biology major
• Determination
• YOU must establish realizable short and long-term
  goals (know your strengths and weaknesses!)
• Skills
• YOU must acquire good study habits
• Be consistent and efficient
• Cooperative learning techniques

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What Do Our Graduates do?

• Enter post-graduate programs
• Medical, Dental, Veterinary, Pharmacy,Optometry
  (UCD, UCSF, UCI, Stanford)
• Ph.D programs (Be a professor or research
  scientist)
• Work in biotechnology
• Work in conservation biology
• Work in health care professions
• Teach K-12, or at a community college

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Graduate Work is Required to Get a Good Job

• B.S. entry level jobs doing basic lab or field
  work
• M.S. managerial level operations for instance
  guiding a specific research team
• Ph.D. long-range planning for a lab or business
  involving research directions and hiring

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Contact

• Brochures, Information, Quick Advice
• Duncan Hall 254 924-4900
• All faculty act as advisors
• Students are assigned advisors based upon
• academic concentration within the department
• professional goals
• Medical, Dental, Pharmacy

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Students!

• 1000 undergraduates
• 100-125 graduate students
• Some Lecture sections are large (100-200), but
  labs are small (18-24) and afford lots of contact
  time with the instructor

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Programs in Biological Sciences

• Bachelor of Arts
• Biological Science
• Biological Science, Preparation for Teaching
• Bachelor of Science
• Conservation and Organismal Biology
• Marine Biology
• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Systems Physiology

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Starting Out

• In the first two years most biology majors take
  the same set of courses
• In the upper division your courses depend upon
  your area of concentration
• BEGINNING COURSES
• Biology 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
• Chem 1A, 1B, 112A, 112B, 113A
• MOST, BUT NOT ALL, MAJORS GET A CHEM MINOR
• Physics 2A, 2B

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BA General Biology BA Prep for Teaching

• Allows for a more flexible curriculum
• Including classes inside and outside of the
  College of Science
• Prep for teaching program is approved by the
  state as subject matter preparation for a single
  subject credential

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BA Biodiversity Stewardship

• A new degree!
• Preparation for work in environmental fields
  including parks, consulting firms, government
  positions etc
• More later in the semester

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BS Conservation and Organismal

• Areas of Emphasis
• Botany (e.g. Plant Physiology)
• Zoology (e.g. Entolmology)
• Conservation (Ecology and Conservation Genetics)
• After Graduation
• Park Ranger
• Environmental Consultant
• State and Federal Government Positions
• Graduate Schools

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BS Marine Biology

• Upper division courses in
• Marine Ecology, Physical Oceanography
• Courses at Moss Landing Marine Labs
• After graduation
• Graduate Schools
• Government jobs
• NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
  Administration)

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BS Microbiology

• Upper division courses in
• Pathogenic Microbiology, Microbial Physiology
• After Graduation
• Biotechnology
• Clinical Lab Scientist
• Professional Schools
• Graduate Schools

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BS Molecular Biology

• Upper division core courses in
• Molecular Biology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics
• After Graduation
• Biotechnology
• Clinical Lab Scientist
• Professional Schools
• Graduate Schools

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BS Systems Physiology

• Upper Division core courses in
• General physiology, endocrinology,
  neurophysiology
• After Graduation
• Biotechnology
• Professional Schools
• Medical School, Dental School, Pharmacy School
• Graduate Schools (masters and Ph.D degrees)

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Some Growing Professions

• Clinical Laboratory Scientist (Med Tech)
• Conservation Biologist
• Biotechnologist
• Science Educators

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Clinical Laboratory Scientist

• Huge demand for next 10 to 15 years
• Managing hospital labs
• Starting salaries in the 60Ks

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Conservation Biologist

•   SJSU Biology Students Survey Future State Park
  Land
• Students from the Biology Department's Redwood
  Forest Ecology course have conducted an extensive
  biological survey of a recovering redwood forest
  in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Currently owned by
  the Sempervirens Fund (a Los Altos based redwood
  forest conservancy), this 1340-acre parcel called
  the San Lorenzo River Redwoods is scheduled for
  sale to the California Department of Parks and
  Recreation over the next few years as an addition
  to Castle Rock State Park. This will effectively
  increase the area of the park by 50, protect
  valuable wildlife habitat, and provide miles of
  publicly accessible, scenic hiking trails.

As the impact of humans on their environment
grows..
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Biotechnologist
There are many growing and successful
Biotechnology companies in the Bay Area. Our
department now has a masters program in
Biotechnology
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Science Educators
Californias population continues to grow and
with it the demand for teachers in Elementary
School, High School, and College
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Biology Minor

• There is a set curriculum or you can make up your
  own in consultation with an advisor
• A customized minor might be a good idea for those
  students in
• Chemistry (proteomics)
• Physics (instrumentation for flow cytometry and
  chromatography)
• Mathematics (applications of chaos theory and
  non-linear systems theory to biological issues)
• Computer science (parallel processing in neural
  networks, software for genetic analysis)

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Clubs

• Biology Students Association (3rd floor Duncan
  Hall)
• Pre-Medical
• Pre-Dental
• Pre-Pharmacy
• Pre-Optometry
• Departmental Seminar (Wed 130-220 pm)

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Welcome to RUMBA's Web site The REU program at
San José State University, called Research by
Undergraduates using Molecular Biology
Applications (RUMBA), will engage six
undergraduate students each summer in a
ten-week research program focused on molecular
biology applications.  Faculty members with
expertise in the areas of genetics, molecular
evolution, molecular environmental
microbiology, cell molecular developmental
biology, and biodiversity will mentor students.
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To Change Your Major

• BIOL 1 with a C or better
• ENG 1A with a C or better
• CHEM 1A with a C or better