Students take Action in the Gulf
This past Labor Day weekend, five chemistry students accompanied Professor Larsen on a tour of the coastlines of Mississippi and Louisiana to learn more about the effects of the BP oil spill. They brought back samples of the beach sand and water to study back at St. Mary's and to further their understanding of the many environmental issues facing the gulf.
Chem majors in San Francisco
From left to right: Brian, JP, Dr. Leah Eller, Rob, Nick, Danielle, Mike, Bertrand, Anita, Janice, Dr. Andy Koch, Tabitha (Now Dr. Clem), and Taylor. Emilie and Kristina couldn't make the photo.
Last Spring, 12 St. Mary's students attended the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Fransico. Eight presented their work and we all met after Tabitha Clem's ('05) talk. Tabitha was just finishing up her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley.
The Biochemistry Major: Program Objectives
Students completing this major should:
- Gain a solid foundation in the sciences needed to understand the biological and chemical complexities in the processes of life.
- Develop proficiency in written and oral communication of scientific topics.
- Be able to search the scientific literature and use Internet resources to identify relevant information.
- Nurture the ability to read and critically assess scientific literature.
- Learn to organize and analyze scientific knowledge and information.
- Develop the technical an intellectual skills necessary to facilitate creative problem solving.
- Engage in independent thinking across the disciplines of chemistry and biology and integrate the chemistry and biology learned throughout the curriculum.
- Learn skills and techniques of modern experimental biochemistry and molecular biology.
- Develop the ability to design experiments and discern the knowledge that can be gained from experimentation, but also understand the limitations of both the scientific method and modern instrumentation.
- Evaluate the impact of technology and ethics in the filed of biochemistry.
- Have an awareness of the major issues at the forefront of the discipline and foster a lifelong curiosity about recent developments.
- Gain the ability to think in an integrated manner and look at problems from different perspectives.
- Develop the ability to do independent research in biochemistry and successfully communicate the results in both oral and written forms.
- Have the skills and confidence necessary to take biochemical initiatives from idea to implementation.
