Biology Majors at Howard University: In a Pandemic
What every incoming freshman biology major envisioned their first year to be. Reluctant, but excited to scratch the surface of all the ground breaking possibilities and opportunities the field has to offer. Awaiting the guidance, encouragement and wisdom of their professor’s, TA’s, advisors, and peers, with the hopes of expanding their knowledge in the field while also enjoying the college experience. Excited to share all of the knowledge you’ve absorbed in the last 9 months, in front of your friends and professors. All of this excitement soon subsided when we realized that we would in fact not be able to enjoy the “normal” college experience, and we also wouldn’t have the chance to interact and connect with those who made the college experience worth while. However. We still gotta get this degree! Even online, I have learned that the lessons being taught here are just as important and relevant as they would be if we were in person. So as a gift, from me to you, I’m here to let you take a good look at Biology at Howard and Howard in general from the online platform.
Howard University’s department of Biology has always been a hands-on, research driven field of study for its students, notoriously producing some of the most competitive candidates for graduate and medical schools. Although this school year could not provide Biology students with the hands-on opportunities we would have been afforded if we were on campus, the department has done its best to provide extensive research opportunities for students in programs I’ll introduce a little later. Thanks to a more than adequate funding tunnel, the Biology department is able to provide its students with the most up to date practices, tools and theories of science along with an extensive list of very qualified faculty members to aid in learning and matriculation to higher education.
Here are some of the faculty and staff members I’ve been able to interact with this virtual school year.
I’ve come to know Dr. Pointer as a very determined woman who has big plans for not only expanding the vision of the Biology Department but strengthening the learning of its students. She has already jumpstarted her plans by providing the department with millions of dollars in funding.
I met Dr. Robinson on my first day of classes as an introduction to the PHAGES program. She is very dedicated to the students of the PHAGES program and expects everyone’s best effort. She has many published journals regarding the research of phages and virus concerning phages.
Dr. Farina is one of my professors in the Biology 102 class, where she teaches the units concerning speciation and animal evolution. She is a professor who does very well with visual learning, providing loads of examples and context for the most curious of learners.
Dr. Pritchett is another professor for the Biology 102 course, where he focuses on anatomy and physiology, and animal reproduction. Dr. Pritchett is also a coordinator of the weekly research seminars presented by Biology graduate students of Howard University.
Dr. McFarlane is one of the lecturers for the PHAGES Program, a woman who seeks excellence and isn’t afraid to teach you how to achieve it. Personally, one of my favorite professors and I am thankful to have met her.
There are many other great faculty members who are essential to the Biology department, but I have not had the chance to meet them, so on my behalf, I cannot truthfully speak on them. If you’re interested in seeing the other faculty members, you can head on over to biology.howard.edu.
The Department of Biology offers three major interdisciplinary programs within the College of Arts and Sciences. The Programs are as follows:
- Biology Honors Program
- SEA PHAGES Honors Program
- B.S/M .D Program
Along with these major programs, the department also provides career/research oriented programs for students to gain more experience and begin to find areas of study within the field of biology that they are interested in. Some of these programs include:
- Johns Hopkins Genomics and Society Mentorship Program
- Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology
- IRES: Summer Biology Research Program in Japan
- Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)
The Honors and B.S/M.D programs are both heavy in excelerated learning for incoming freshman, with a separate list of course requirements from the standard Biology course requirement list. The Honors program is also available to rising sophomores who did not apply their freshman year. The B.S/M.D program, however, is only open to incoming freshman. I am apart of the SEA PHAGES program, and can tell you a little bit more about it regarding my experience thus far.
SEA PHAGES is a research based course and program offered by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education to various undergraduate research programs, including Howard University. At Howard, PHAGES is a two semester program open to invited freshman, where we research and discover new phage particles. This year, since we couldn’t actually do the physical discovery, the program was more focused on the annotation of the genes of phage Mycobacterium smegmatis MC² 155, which we were able to do from home using various bioinformatic tools. The program has not only taught me about these host infecting viruses, but the importance of the extensive research of phage properties and behaviors to advancement in specific areas of medicine.
In SEA PHAGES, we were introduced to some of the major Biology Journals, along with the traditional ASM style of writing, which we used in our personal research for our research papers. These journals include:
- The ISME Journal
- The Journal of Molecular Biology
- The Journal of Virology
As you may see, the Biology program has a lot to offer to its students, even online. But, along with these great opportunities, there are requirements for completing the program. One thing to know, is that through successful completion of the Biology program you will not only have the qualifications of a Biology major, but also that of a Chemistry minor. The Chemistry minor is apart of the Biology program, and is automatically a part of your courses for degree completion. So, there is no need to declare this minor, because it has already been declared for you. You can always declare a second minor, or double major, but you cannot drop the Chemistry minor, for it is embedded in the program already. Along with the required Chemistry minor, you have to complete departmentally required courses and general courses required for the College of Arts and Sciences, which Biology is apart of. Both sets of Requirements have been attached below and includes suggested courses for each semester:
- Biology Major Course Requirements & COAS Gen Ed Requirements https://biology.howard.edu/sites/biology.coas.howard.edu/files/2019-07/hubiology.curr_.guide_.pdf
Although Biology may be your main focus and field of study at Howard, there are plenty of extracurricular activities you can get into, even online! I was able to join the Howard University Showtime Marching Band’s Ooh La La! Danceline, auditioning virtually and having practices virtually. I was also afforded the opportunity to perform with the band in the 2021 Presidential Inauguration. It was amazing. Along with the Marching Band, Howard has many more activities to offer including sports, clubs, sororities, and student run organizations like student council and government. Students are able to start new organizations and clubs during any time in their Howard career. I have provided an extensive list of some of the the sports, clubs and activities offered at here at Howard most of which were also active during the virtual school year.
- S.H.O.W.T.I.M.E Marching Band
- Bisonettes
- Basketball
- Cross Country
- Football
- Golf
- Soccer
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- Track and Field
- Bowling
- Lacrosse
- Softball
- Swimming and Diving
- Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
- Bison Yearbook
- Student Council
- Delta Sigma Theta
- Howard University Health Professions Society
- Models of the Mecca
- Speech/Debate Team
And here comes the end of the road of what knowledge I have thus far of Howard University. This past year has been nothing like any of us ever expected, but Howard has done its best at maintaining its mission at leading excellence in truth and service. I have gained a lot of knowledge this year from Howard in my major classes and non-major classes. If there’s anything I’ve learned this year, it’s to be like a sponge here at Howard. Soak up all that you can, all the lessons, knowledge, facts, theories, and ideas that’ll be brought to your attention. Soak it all in, take it for what it is, analyze it, formulate your own opinion, and from there you can release whatever you deem unnecessary, with a simple squeeze. You are free to be you, in every regard. Do with that what you may.
SOURCES
- https://howard.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations
- https://seaphages.org
- https://blog.typeset.io/top-11-international-biology-journals-a-template-guide-93499ffaa17f
- https://microbiologyinfo.com/top-10-microbiology-journals-with-impact-factor/
- https://people.com/politics/biden-inauguration-must-see-photos-from-the-parade/?slide=e3a0e932-388b-41f8-8f8b-2166a23f7a12#e3a0e932-388b-41f8-8f8b-2166a23f7a12
- https://biology.howard.edu
- https://profiles.howard.edu
