Students are required to complete the general education requirements of the College of the Environment. Some of the credits applied to these requirements may also fulfill major requirements.

College of the Environment General Education Requirements

In addition to the general education requirements, a UW student earning any Bachelor’s degree must meet the following University requirements:

• Earn a total minimum of 180 quarter credits
• A minimum of 45 credits taken as a matriculated University of Washington student (a minimum of 45 of your final 60 credits must be taken at the UW)
• A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0

Chemistry

Choose one of the following sequences (10-15 cr.):

	Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
1.	CHEM 120	Principles of Chemistry I	5	A
	OCEAN 295	Chemistry of Marine Organic Carbon	5	W, Sp
2.	CHEM 120	Principles of Chemistry I	5	A
	CHEM 220	Principles of Chemistry II	5	W
3.*	CHEM 142	General Chemistry I	5	A, W, Sp, Su
	CHEM 152	General Chemistry II	5	A, W, Sp, Su
	OCEAN 295	Chemistry of Marine Organic Carbon	5	W, Sp
4.*⁺	CHEM 142	General Chemistry I	5	A, W, Sp, Su
	CHEM 152	General Chemistry II	5	A, W, Sp, Su
	CHEM 223	Organic Chemistry – Short Program	4	A, Su

* CHEM 143, 153 and 145, 155 are pre-approved substitutes for CHEM 142 and 152.

⁺ CHEM 237 pre-approved to substitute for CHEM 223

Biology

Three courses (15 cr.):

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
BIOL 180	Introductory Biology I	5	A, W, Sp, Su
BIOL 200	Introductory Biology II	5	A, W, Sp, Su

and one of:

FISH/OCEAN/MARBIO 270	Aquatic Ecophysiology	5	W
BIOL 220	Introductory Biology III	5	A, W, Sp, Su

Statistics

Choose one (5 cr.):

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
Q SCI 381	Introduction to Probability and Statistics	5	A, W, Sp, Su
STAT 311	Elements of Statistical Methods	5	A, W, Sp, Su

Math

Choose one of the following sequences (10 cr.):

	Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
1.	Q SCI 291	Calculus for Natural Systems I: Derivatives	5	A, W, Sp
	Q SCI 292	Calculus for Natural Systems II: Integrals	5	W, Sp
2.	MATH 124	Calculus with Analytic Geometry I	5	A, W, Sp, Su
	MATH 125	Calculus with Analytic Geometry II	5	A, W, Sp, Su

Physics

Choose one of the following sequences (8-10 cr.):

	Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
1.	PHYS 114	General Physics I	4	A, W, Sp, Su
	PHYS 115	General Physics II	4	A, W, Sp, Su
2.	PHYS 121	Mechanics	5	A, W, Sp, Su
	PHYS 122	Electromagnetism	5	A, W, Sp, Su
3.	PHYS 114 or PHYS 121 (choose one)	General Physics I/Mechanics	4/5	A, W, Sp, Su
	OCEAN 285 & OCEAN 286	Physics Across Oceanography: Fluid Mechanics and Waves (with lab)	5	A

Introductory Marine Science

Choose one (5 cr.):

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
FISH/OCEAN/BIOL 250	Marine Biology	5	A, W
OCEAN 200 & 201	Introduction to Oceanography, Introduction to Oceanography Lab	3, 2	Sp

Integrative Oceans

One course (4 cr.):

OCEAN 210

Integrative Oceans

4

A, Sp

choose one (3-5 cr.):

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
MARBIO 305	Scientific Writing in Marine Biology	3	A, W, Sp

Note: FHL 333: Science Writing for Diverse Audiences is still an approved course alternative to MARBIO 305 to fulfil the Communication requirement, but the course is currently not offered at Friday Harbor Labs.

Three courses (15 cr.):

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
FISH 323	Conservation and Management of Aquatic Resources	5	W
MARBIO/FISH/OCEAN 370	Marine Evolutionary Biology	5	Sp
OCEAN 330	Marine Biogeochemical Cycles	5	Sp

Students develop content knowledge and skills through a large selection of courses offered at the upper-division level through the School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences, the School of Oceanography, the Department of Biology, and the Friday Harbor Laboratories. Students complete electives from the department’s approved list to meet the following requirements:

Elective credit requirements

• Minimum of 25 credits total from the department’s approved list

Category requirements

• Biodiversity (1 course minimum)
• Ecology and Ecosystems (1 course minimum)
• Organismal Processes (1 course minimum)
• Additional elective courses to bring total credits to 25

Additional requirements

• Minimum of 3 courses at the 400-level
• Minimum of 2 courses taken with lab sections
• No more than 6 credits total of independent research or internship

Marine Biology Elective List

Culminating requirement of the major, which has all students spending at least three weeks in the field away from the Seattle Campus. Most options involve studying in residence at Friday Harbor Labs, the UW’s marine field station on San Juan Island. See the page below for details on the requirement and eligible courses.

Integrative Field Experience requirement

• Minimum 5 – 6 credits from the approved list

Marine Biology Integrative Field Experience