Why Iowa?

Our students aren’t passive learners. At Iowa, you’ll go inside the lab and contribute to world-renowned research working alongside faculty experts to explore the diverse realms of the biological sciences.

Undergraduate programs

iBio Graduate Program

Faculty

Why study here?

Whether you aspire to be a research scientist, professor, physician, forensic scientist, biotechnologist, public health professional, natural resource expert, science communicator, or so much more — Iowa’s Department of Biology will prepare you to take your next step through courses, experiential learning, and engagement in research.

Research

Bin Z. He portrait

Stresses strengthen disease-causing yeast

Biologists at the University of Iowa have found that C. glabrata, after being exposed to a mild stress, becomes more resistant to hydrogen peroxide, a chemical weapon employed by the human immune system to eliminate infecting microbes. The biologists further learned that this exposure-to-resistance escalation in C. glabrata does not appear in its close relative, the benign Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer’s or baker’s yeast.

Portrait of John Manak

Biologists show how brain’s immune system response worsens epilepsy

In a new study, the researchers lay out a chain of events that can cause seizures—the most common manifestation of epilepsy—to worsen. The sequence begins when oxidative stress in the body causes the brain’s immune system to react. That activation by the brain’s resident immune cells (called glia) triggers more severe seizures.

Brian Berger working in a lab

Iowa antibody bank stands ready to fight the next pandemic

On the corner of Dubuque Street and Iowa Avenue, just a block east from the Old Capitol, thousands of possible clues toward deciphering human diseases are stored in liquid nitrogen. Floating in glass tubes, the hybridomas—cell lines used to create antibodies, the foundational pieces of human and animal immunity—hold clues to how our brains work and our muscles develop. They point the way to treatments for emerging viruses that have yet to be named. They could even help combat a future pandemic.

biology students on site

$6M

Faculty in the Department of Biology received more than $6 million in grant funding in 2023.

students walking down hallway in Biology building

55 %

of undergraduate students participated in research outside of regular course assignments.

(2017 data)

student at a microscope

1,040

More than 1,000 students are enrolled as biology undergraduate majors at Iowa.

Events

Master's Thesis Seminar: Illuminating Apocephalus (Diptera: Phoridae) parasitoid biology: host associations, detection of host identity from parasitoid tissue, and superparasitism promotional image

Master's Thesis Seminar: Illuminating Apocephalus (Diptera: Phoridae) parasitoid biology: host associations, detection of host identity from parasitoid tissue, and superparasitism

Thursday, April 17, 2025 9:00am
Van Allen Hall
Mattie Gose, a Master’s candidate in the Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Program, will be defending her thesis on Thursday, April 17, at 9 a.m. CDT in Room 158, Van Allen Hall (VAN), and via Zoom: https://uiowa.zoom.us/j/93360713677?pwd=o97CLdzGpJ46nuMhpe3WiAnhNK644e.1&from=addon (Meeting ID: 933 6071 3677; Passcode: Phoridae). Mattie’s mentor is Andrew Forbes, Professor of Biology. The seminar is open to the public to attend.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: Dr. Sara Stahley promotional image

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: Dr. Sara Stahley

Thursday, April 17, 2025 10:30am to 11:20am
Medical Education Research Facility
This event is open to the public."Cadherin regulation of planar cell polarity in the mammalian epidermis"Sara Stahley, PhDAssistant Professor of Dermatology and of Cellular and Molecular PhysiologyPennsylvania State University Cancer InstituteFaculty Host: Kris DeMali, PhDStahley Lab | https://sites.psu.edu/stahleylab/
BIO Plant Sale promotional image

BIO Plant Sale

Thursday, April 17, 2025 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Biology Building East
The BIO student organization will be having its annual Plant Sale from Monday, April 14 through Thursday, April 17. Stop by to check out the great prices and support BIO! All proceeds will help support future BIO events and activities. Cash is preferred. See attached flyer for dates, times, and locations. In case of rain or inclement weather on Tuesday, April 15 or Wednesday, April 16, the Plant Sale will be held in the Biology Building East (BBE) Lobby.
Biology Seminar: Evolution of Embryo Development in the Insect Order of Flies promotional image

Biology Seminar: Evolution of Embryo Development in the Insect Order of Flies

Friday, April 18, 2025 3:30pm
Biology Building East
Dr. Urs Schmidt-Ott from the Department of Organismal Biology & Anatomy at the University of Chicago will be giving a seminar on Friday, April 18, at 3:30 p.m. in Kollros Auditorium (Room 101), Biology Building East (BBE). Dr. Albert Erives is the faculty host. A reception with light refreshments will be held in the BBE Lobby following the seminar.
View more events

Seminars

Master's Thesis Seminar: Illuminating Apocephalus (Diptera: Phoridae) parasitoid biology: host associations, detection of host identity from parasitoid tissue, and superparasitism promotional image

Master's Thesis Seminar: Illuminating Apocephalus (Diptera: Phoridae) parasitoid biology: host associations, detection of host identity from parasitoid tissue, and superparasitism

Thursday, April 17, 2025 9:00am
Van Allen Hall
Mattie Gose, a Master’s candidate in the Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Program, will be defending her thesis on Thursday, April 17, at 9 a.m. CDT in Room 158, Van Allen Hall (VAN), and via Zoom: https://uiowa.zoom.us/j/93360713677?pwd=o97CLdzGpJ46nuMhpe3WiAnhNK644e.1&from=addon (Meeting ID: 933 6071 3677; Passcode: Phoridae). Mattie’s mentor is Andrew Forbes, Professor of Biology. The seminar is open to the public to attend.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: Dr. Sara Stahley promotional image

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: Dr. Sara Stahley

Thursday, April 17, 2025 10:30am to 11:20am
Medical Education Research Facility
This event is open to the public."Cadherin regulation of planar cell polarity in the mammalian epidermis"Sara Stahley, PhDAssistant Professor of Dermatology and of Cellular and Molecular PhysiologyPennsylvania State University Cancer InstituteFaculty Host: Kris DeMali, PhDStahley Lab | https://sites.psu.edu/stahleylab/
Biology Seminar: Evolution of Embryo Development in the Insect Order of Flies promotional image

Biology Seminar: Evolution of Embryo Development in the Insect Order of Flies

Friday, April 18, 2025 3:30pm
Biology Building East
Dr. Urs Schmidt-Ott from the Department of Organismal Biology & Anatomy at the University of Chicago will be giving a seminar on Friday, April 18, at 3:30 p.m. in Kollros Auditorium (Room 101), Biology Building East (BBE). Dr. Albert Erives is the faculty host. A reception with light refreshments will be held in the BBE Lobby following the seminar.