Welcome to Biology at Waterloo

Biology is the study of living organisms: their structure, function, organization, origin, and evolution.

As a biologist, you’ll have career options that span a wide range of professions, including laboratory and field research, environmental assessment, the health professions, education, and industry. By choosing one of our areas of specialization, such as Animal Physiology, Ecology and Environmental Biology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, or Plant Biology, you can better prepare yourself for these exciting career opportunities.

Our Biology program is versatile, allowing you to complement your Genetics, Cell Biology, Physiology, Ecology, Plant Biology, and Human Anatomy courses with studies from the arts, humanities, languages, and mathematics areas. Related labs, tutorial sessions, and field trips provide hands-on experience in a wide range of biological disciplines.

The Department of Biology offers undergraduate degrees in Bioinformatics, Biomedical Sciences (formerly Pre-Optometry/Pre-Health), Honours Biochemistry, Honours Biochemistry/Biotechnology (Regular and Co-op), Honours Environmental Sciences (Ecology Specialization) and Honours Biology (Regular and Co-op). View the degrees and programs. More information about our graduate programs is available on our graduate program site.

Learn more about the Department of Biology's vision/strategic plan.

News

  1. Dec. 11, 2019Waterloo’s synthetic biology iGEM team awarded silver standing at annual international competition
    iGEM lab team in lab coats

    Each year since 2005, a group of students from the University of Waterloo has been embracing the challenging, but rewarding world of synthetic biology, problem solving and researching for the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition. This competition brings together teams from countries around the world to showcase projects, and learn from each other at an annual conference.

  2. Nov. 13, 2019Biology Professor Kirsten Müller embarking on leadership voyage to Antarctica

    Leaving family, friends and Wi-Fi might not be most people’s idea of a dream experience. However, for biology Professor Kirsten Müller, these things are necessary for her upcoming once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica. In this trip, she will travel alongside 99 other women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medicine) fields as the fourth cohort of Homeward Bound.

  3. Aug. 21, 2019Tree of life: Powerful online tool will help researchers make new genomic discoveries
    Annotree

    University of Waterloo researchers have developed a powerful new online tool that allows users to navigate through an interactive microbial tree of life, and to generate new scientific hypotheses and discoveries.

    By integrating data across thousands of microbial genomes, “AnnoTree” provides a comprehensive framework for exploring the evolution of microbial genes and functions, and can be used to advance research across a wide range of industries including microbiology, biotechnology, industrial products, biofuels, and food science.

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