School of Biology and Ecology

Welcome from the SBE Director

Welcome to the School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine!  We offer an exciting diversity of degree programs for our students. Undergraduate programs include options emphasizing biology, the health professions, ecology, medical laboratory sciences, zoology and botany.  Courses are taught by faculty who are highly dedicated to education, some of whom are recipients of teaching awards at the college, university, and national levels.  Incoming first-year students are invited to participate in the Schoodic Experience, which introduces them to our programs, faculty, and each other during a fun hands-on orientation program held at the Schoodic Education and Research Center on the beautiful coast of Maine.  After that introduction, students proceed to explore the array of classroom, laboratory, and field experiences that prepare them for a wide variety of rewarding careers.

On the graduate level, we administer Master of Science degree programs in Botany, Entomology, and Zoology, and Ph.D. programs in Biological Sciences and Zoology. We also jointly offer interdisciplinary M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Ecology and Environmental Sciences, and a Ph.D. program in Plant Science. In addition, our Four Plus programs are designed to allow highly dedicated students to obtain both B.S. and M.S. degrees in five to six years, while counting nine graduate course credits taken during the senior year towards both the B.S. and M.S. degrees.

Our faculty members are national and international leaders in their areas of scientific research.  The breadth of their expertise ranges from medical physiology to paleoecology and biogeochemistry, from agricultural genomics to science education, and from contemporary evolution to pest management.  Graduate and undergraduate students have the opportunity to work on projects funded from a variety of federal, state, and private sources, including those associated with the Sustainable Solutions Initiative, the Climate Change Institute, One Health and the Environment and the Maine Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station.

We invite prospective students to consider joining us for a rewarding and inspiring educational journey.

Finally, we celebrate our alumni, wish them all the best in their careers, and thank them for their ongoing support of our programs in the School of Biology and Ecology.

Dr. Farahad Dastoor
Director of the School of Biology and Ecology