Fast Facts
What Makes Us Unique?
1. We have recently finished constructing a new ecology laboratory featuring three 180-gallon tanks built into the wall for viewing from both the hallway and the classroom. These tanks replicate the environments of a reef off the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos, the surface to mid-level waters of Lake Erie, and the stream habitat of Elk Creek, a nearby major tributary of Lake Erie.
2. We are a full member of the Regional Science Consortium, a collaborative, non-profit organization that focuses on and coordinates educational and research projects for Lake Erie and the upper Ohio River Basin.
3. The Department owns and manages two major natural areas within the Pennsylvania Lake Erie watershed. These sites are utilized for student research and field trips in several Biology courses.
- In 2002 the department received a 17-acre tract of land as a donation from Mary Jo and Ed Maier. Mary Jo Maier graduated from Mercyhurst in 1952 with a degree in Biology. This 'living lab' is now known as the Mary Jo and Ed Maier Field Station and features a mature bottomland forest and channel wetlands within the floodplain of Elk Creek.
- Our other property is the Jean B. and J. Douglas James Ecological and Wildlife Preserve, a 35-acre tract that features a wide variety of forest and wetland habitats and is part of a larger community greenway adjacent to the Asbury Woods Nature Center.
4. Our students have the opportunity to participate in original research projects and present their findings at regional and national conferences, including Sigma Xi, the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences, and many more.
5. We offer a variety of courses during the Summer Term at the nearby Tom Ridge Environmental Center at Presque Isle State Park. Our own Dr. Steve Mauro has taught a course on Microbial Ecology in the past.
6. We also offer three summer field courses on a rotating basis. Mike Campbell teaches Plant Ecology, Invertebrate Zoology, and Restoration Ecology. Each 2-week travel course involves students in hands-on learning during a trip between Pennsylvania and Texas. This course is closely integrated with the Archaeology Department's summer field school currently held at the Gault Site north of Austin, Texas. Last summer the class spent some time in Taos, New Mexico.
7. Every other year we offer a course in marine biology and take students to a gorgeous Caribbean island to snorkel, dive on a reef, and conduct hands-on ecological research. In conjunction with The School for Field Studies, next year Summer Ekelund-Weaver and Natalie Waddell-Rutter will lead a trip to a Caribbean island for a unforgettable experience.
8. In 2007 we bought a real-time PCR machine. This $25,000 gadget allows for the amplification, and more importantly, quantification of DNA sequences. One of its main uses is researching the E. coli problem in Lake Erie.
9. We have a brand new Office of Pre-Health Professions Advising (see Dr. Steve Mauro). In order to find out more about Pre-Health, click on the link from our homepage.
10. Our professional school (i.e., med school, vet school, dental school, etc.) placement rate is 82%.
11. The department has two cooperative agreements with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM).
- The first agreement gives students the option of applying to a 3+4 year program. This program allows students to enter medical school at LECOM after attending Mercyhurst College for three years.
- The second agreement is on a 2+3 or 3+3 timetable and allows students to enroll in LECOM's Doctor of Pharmacy program after attending Mercyhurst College for two or three years.
12. A wide spectrum of programs, including anthropology, applied forensic sciences, sportsmedicine, chemistry, physics, dance, and psychology (to name just a few) have biology requirements necessary to complete their major.
13. An interdisciplinary minor in Sustainability Studies was approved in 2007, and several biology faculty, including Dr. Mike Campbell and Dr. Steve Mauro, are currently contributing to the team-taught introductory course central to this program.
14. The department also participates in the Interdisciplinary Program in Applied Forensic Sciences, the Neuroscience concentration administered jointly with the Department of Psychology, and the Biochemistry major offered through the Department of Chemistry.
15. The college recently acquired a 405-acre farm in Girard, PA, for which we are developing new academic programs. The Biology Department is actively conducting research in sustainable agriculture and soil science at this setting and offers field trips to the site as part of several main campus Biology courses.
