Contact Information

Location: Sanders Administration Building Room 104I
Chairperson: Dr. Margaret Hoey - 978-665-3618
Secretary: Melissa Barrette - 978-665-3246
Admissions Office: 978-665-3144 or admissions@fitchburgstate.edu

SUMMARY

The Department of Biology and Chemistry is the largest of the basic science departments, with approximately 180 undergraduate majors and 37 minors. The Department offers undergraduate programs of study leading to a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in Biology with options for several concentrations as well as minors in Biology and Chemistry. The curriculum in each of the degree programs provides a strong theoretical foundation balanced with practical applications. The Department also encourages all students to use critical thinking as a part of the scientific process. A wide variety of undergraduate courses in Biology and Chemistry are available for Biology majors, minors and non-majors seeking to expand their scientific knowledge and critical science inquiry skills. In addition, at the graduate level, the Department of Biology and Chemistry offers a Masters of Arts in Biology, Masters of Arts in Teaching Biology at both the Initial and Professional level and Masters of Education in Science Education for both Teachers  and other Non-Teaching professions. The degree programs and individual course offerings in Biology and Chemistry are outlined in the Fitchburg State University Catalog. The Mission of the Department of Biology and Chemistry is to provide these curricular opportunities to students from a variety of backgrounds, supported by the scholarly activity of our Faculty and State of the Art Facilities.

Faculty

The Biology and Chemistry faculty instruct all courses, including lecture and laboratory.  Each student is assigned an academic advisor from the faculty which include fourteen full-time instructors all possessing Ph.D., Ed.D., and post-doctoral experience.  With an average student ratio of less than 13 to one, each student receives the type of personal attention possibly only at a smaller university focused on teaching and learning.  In addition to their commitment to teaching, our faculty are experts in their fields of research and scholarship, publishing and presenting their work at regional, national and international meetings.  The faculty's commitment to scholarship and research has been recognized through grants and awards from Fitchburg State University, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the National Science Foundation.

FACULTY PROFILES

• Babich, George L. – development biology, bioethics
• Boisvert, Dorothy M. – microbiology, science education
• Ciottone, Judith – physical chemistry
• Cratsley, Christopher K. – animal behavior, science education
• Govindan, Meledath - organic chemistry, natural products chemistry
• Hoey, Margaret T. – evolution, botany, genetics
• Krieser, Ronald – genetics, molecular biology
• Krishnamurthy, Mathangi – organic chemistry
• Lu, Da-hong– physical chemistry
• Ludlam, John – ecology, environmental science
• Nosek, Michael T.– cell biology
• O'Connor, Aisling M. – analytical & green chemistry, science education
• Picone, Christopher – ecology, environmental science
• Rehrig, Erin M. – plant biology, science education
• Schoenfeld, Thomas A. – anatomy, physiology, neuroscience
• Thomas, Howard H. – vertebrate zoology, anatomy, physiology

FACILITIES

The Condike Science Center currently serves as the major departmental facility, but we are in the process of building a new science center with state-of-the-art laboratories, to be ready in the fall of 2013.  Concentrations in cell, molecular and evolutionary biology are supported by the most current instrumentation and equipment available both at Fitchburg State University and at collaborating laboratories in the region.  In addition, our courses make use of local streams, a pond and forests that are all walking distance from the campus.