Undergraduate Programs

Biology – Majors degree offered

The Biology Major (B. Sc. Biology) provides students with a broad background in the Biological Sciences with courses in Botany, Microbiology, Zoology, Ecology, Genetics, Cell Biology and Biochemistry.  The program requirements are detailed in the University's annual General Calendar. This program will be of interest to students planning to pursue careers in various biology sub disciplines and who wish an undergraduate degree that is "interdisciplinary" within biology and cuts across the traditional boundaries.  This program will also suit students who are interested in the After Degree program in Education or who are intending to apply to a professional program (e.g. Medicine) but who would like a broad background in the Biological Sciences as an alternative if not admissible to their first choice faculty.  Many of the courses required in the common core are also required for admission to such professional programs as Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine.

Botany – Majors, Honours and Co-op degrees offered

Botany is the study of plants — green plants of all kinds, including algae, mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants.  Botanists study these organisms at the molecular, cellular, individual, population, community, and ecosystem levels of organization. 

Areas emphasized in the Botany program cover plant and fungal interactions, molecular plant biology, terrestrial and aquatic ecology, quantitative plant biology, forest ecology, toxicology, reclamation and phyto-remediation, systematic and evolution, microbial ecology (algae and fungi), developmental plant biology, economic plant biology, plant genetics and genetic signaling at the ecosystem, community, population, individual, cellular and molecular levels of organization.

Careers in Botany exist for very practical reasons and serve a range of human needs. Plants are vital to human-kind in many different ways. Plants harness the sun’s energy through photosynthesis and provide crucial oxygen to the planet. Not only are they a source of food, resulting from crop production by farmers, for humans, but also ultimately to all animals on the earth. They are grown as ornamentals by gardeners, provide chemicals for medicines, and health additives, and help to moderate our climate.  Plants further provide for recreational wilderness as well as timber for wood and fiber for cloth, rope and derived wood products. Mosses contribute significantly to the earth’s peat deposits, a source of energy and organic nutrients. Fungi and algae are among the true pioneers in both terrestrial and aquatic environments and enable green plants and associated animals to take up residence, obtain nutrients, succeed, and evolve. Plants and their allies, the fungi, are indeed, essential to the well being of the Biosphere and are important to study at all levels of organization for a range of career choices.

Ecology - Majors, Honours and Co-op degrees offered

Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment, both in natural settings and human-influenced habitats. In our society ecology and environmental biology provide a scientific link to the living world. Ecologists study the lives of many organisms including animals, plants, fungi, protists, and bacteria. Interactions among these organisms are investigated at many scales ranging from the microscopic to the global.   At the individual level, ecology investigates the impact of environmental factors on organisms through their physiology and behaviour. Ultimately, ecologists link these factors to survival and reproduction in variable environments.  At the population level, ecology examines the causes of fluctuations in numbers and changes in distribution of a single species. This work is often the focus of agencies concerned with exploitation, extinction, and rehabilitation of both commercially and esthetically important species.  At the community and ecosystem level, ecology considers many coexisting species. It examines the interactions between species within the communities (competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, etc.) as well as broader investigations of community structure and composition. Ultimately, the skills developed within this theme prepare students for future careers in academia, government agencies, private consulting companies, or NGOs whose mandates encompass ecological and environmental concerns.

Genetics - Honours and Co-op degrees offered

Genetics is the science of heredity which deals with the mechanisms of inheritance. From the more general rules of inheritance in whole populations to the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation, genetic research is exciting and has resulted in concepts which are basic to modern biology. It is accepted that no area of biology can be fully understood without the application of genetics at some level.

Genetics is currently divided into three broad areas: classical genetics, population genetics and molecular genetics. Research is being carried out in all three areas at the University of Manitoba. Recently all areas of genetic research have been revolutionized by the application of molecular recombinant techniques, blurring the boundaries among the three areas.

Research in the various areas of genetics is carried out in many faculties including Science, Agriculture, Medicine and Arts. An understanding of basic genetics is necessary for many advancements in medicine, for improvements in agricultural techniques and for understanding fundamental developments in the basic biological sciences. For the general public, an understanding of genetics is valuable in order that many issues commonly discussed in the media such as heritable IQ, the issues of genetically-modified organisms, genetic counselling, and gene therapy, to mention but a few, can be understood and interpreted.

The program is designed to allow students opportunity to participate in original laboratory research in the final year and to prepare a student for an easy transition to graduate studies in some aspect of genetics.

Zoology - Majors, Honours and Co-op degrees offered

Zoology is the study of animals, their biodiversity, form and function, evolution, and their interactions with the environment. Five areas of study are offered: animal behaviour and ecology, animal physiology, cell and developmental biology, ecology, and parasitology.  Zoological study at the undergraduate level requires a knowledge of chemistry and in some disciplines botany, mathematics, statistics and physics. Consequently, students must be able to perform well in several related science subjects as well as zoology.

The study of living systems is exciting and integrates the molecular, cellular, tissue, organismal and ecological levels. Are you fascinated by the structure and function of organisms; how they have evolved; how they interact with each other and the environment? Do you enjoy a sense of adventure? Then zoology is for you. Zoology students have access to excellent teaching and research facilities including controlled environment rooms for holding terrestrial and aquatic organisms, a computer laboratory, the Stewart Hay Memorial teaching museum, electron microscope, and the University Field Station at Delta Marsh.