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Biology

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Biology Highlights

  • <div class="lw_blurbs_body"><p class="intro"><img width="769" height="380" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/84/width/769/height/380/29785_shubhik_debburman.rev.1449784907.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image29785 lw_align_none lw_column_width_full" data-max-w="769" data-max-h="380"/></p><p class="intro"> By studying how cells manipulate proteins, <a href="/academics/faculty/debburman">Professor Shubhik DebBurman</a> and his students hope to better understand why some proteins change shape and cause incurable neurological diseases like Parkinson’s. Many of Professor DebBurman’s students have had the opportunity to co-author publications with him on this research and to turn their lab work into research projects and senior theses.</p></div>
  • <div class="lw_blurbs_body"><p class="intro"><img width="611" height="299" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/84/width/611/height/299/1092_img_5167.rev.1386277973.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image1092 lw_align_none" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/84/width/611/height/299/1092_img_5167.rev.1386277973.jpg 2x" data-max-w="1650" data-max-h="807"/></p><p class="intro"> Professor <a href="/academics/faculty/kirk">Karen Kirk</a> and computer science major Sylwia Dakowicz ’13 use computers to mine and analyze data of gene sequences for a <a href="/academics/students/richter.php">Richter Scholar</a> research project. Professor Kirk received a <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a> grant to identify telomerase RNA in her study of aging, and several biology students will assist with parts of the research, likely leading to their senior theses.</p></div>
  • <div class="lw_blurbs_body"><p class="intro"><img width="611" height="382" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/84/width/611/height/382/38898_eukaryon_2017_crop.rev.1504276846.png" class="lw_image lw_image38898 lw_align_none lw_block lw_column_width_full" data-max-w="611" data-max-h="382"/></p><p class="intro"> Each year, the student-produced research journal <em><a href="http://www.lakeforest.edu/academics/students/journals/eukaryon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eukaryon</a></em> publishes exceptional research by Lake Forest biology students. A student editorial board comprised of biology students peer reviews, copy edits, and publishes the online journal, which won first prize in the science education session at the 2009 Society of Developmental Biology.</p></div>

About Biology at Lake Forest College

Biology majors don’t just learn facts about living things, they learn how to be scientists. This means they can often be found in the lab, actively engaged in research with faculty. Students have exciting opportunities for internships and research at world-class Chicago institutions like the Field Museum, Chicago Botanic Garden, Shedd Aquarium, and Rosalind Franklin University of Medical Sciences. Biology students are well-trained by hypothesis-driven coursework. While a major or minor in biology is great preparation for postgraduate training in academic research or the health professions, our students also become competitive graduates and professionals in industry and fields like environmental policy, education and museum administration.

Department News

  • Jeanne McDonald '19 is the first Forester to win a national Goldwater Scholarship.
    Jeanne McDonald ’19 wins Goldwater Scholarship
    Biology major Jeanne McDonald ’19 has been awarded a prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship for undergraduate excellence in the sciences—a first for Lake Forest College. Neuroscience and chemistry double major Yoan Ganev ’19  received an Honorable Mention.
  • Netherlands
    Notes from Abroad: Molly in the Netherlands
    Molly Major ’19 is a major in Chemistry and a minor in Biology who is studying in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
  • Eukaryon Volume 14 was unveiled—and distributed—at a ceremony on Tuesday, March 6.
    14th annual Eukaryon unveiled
    A crowd cheered the unveiling of the 14th annual life sciences journal, Eukaryon, during the inauguration ceremony in McCormick Auditorium on March 6.
  • Fatemeh "Sima" Riahi ’19 (left) and Karla Figueroa ’19
    Two Foresters to pitch plan in esteemed competition

    Not giving up has paid off for Karla Figueroa ’19 and Fatemeh Riahi ’19. The duo has been selected from applicants worldwide to pitch their idea—a collapsible barrel with a built-in filter to make contaminated water usable—in the esteemed Values and Ventures business plan competition at Texas Christian University.

  • Eukaryon Volume 14 Cover
    Eukaryon celebrates its fourteenth year by featuring Professor Anna Trumbore Jones

    Eukaryon will be celebrating the inauguration of their fourteenth volume on Tuesday, March 6 in Lillard Lower Level Lobby, McCormick Auditorium. The journal’s 2017–2018 theme is “Chaos and Equilibrium.”

  • Flavia Barbosa
    A faculty member you should know: Flavia Barbosa
    Assistant Professor of Biology Flavia Barbosa is interested in a particular part of evolution that most of us don’t consider: sexual selection in certain species. To study this, she looks at mating behaviors of insects, from katydids to moths, and has found that female preference plays a large role in evolution.
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  • <span class="lw_profiles_image"><span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/profiles/2491-jessica-price-06"><img src="/live/image/gid/187/width/242/height/242/crop/1/src_region/0,0,681,960/38162_jp.rev.1500306164.jpg" alt="Jessica Price ’06" title="Jessica Price ’06" class="lw_image" width="242" height="242" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/187/width/242/height/242/crop/1/src_region/0,0,681,960/38162_jp.rev.1500306164.jpg 2x" data-max-w="681" data-max-h="960"/></a></span></span><div class="quote"><p> “Lake Forest College was a place that I could major in both the natural sciences and the humanities.”</p></div><a class="recruit-link" href="/live/profiles/2491-jessica-price-06">Jessica Price ’06 loved her liberal arts education and now works at the Nature Conservancy!</a>