Academics > Majors and Areas of Study > Biology > Cooperative Programs

Argonne National Laboratories Semester: A student majoring in biology, chemistry or physics who shows high potential for scientific research may, with the consent of the chairperson of his or her major department, apply for participation in this program operated by the Central States Universities, Inc.

Forestry and Environmental Management: Thiel College participates in a cooperative program with the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Through this program, highly qualified students can earn a bachelor’s degree at Thiel and a master’s degree at Duke in five years.

Students in the program complete three years of course work at Thiel, which includes the curriculum required of all students (the Integrative Requirement and the major), the prerequisites for admission to Duke and a total of 94 credit hours. Prospective students must apply for admission tot he Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke by February 1 of their junior year. Upon successful admission and completion of two semesters of residency at Duke in which 30 semester units of credit are earned, the students is awarded a bachelor’s degree from Thiel. After an additional two semesters of successful study at Duke and completion of a total of 48 semester units of credit, a student may receive either a Master of Forestry (M.F.) or a Master of Environmental Management (M.E.M.) degree.

Students may also choose to earn the bachelor’s degree from Thiel. These students may apply for admission to the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke as candidates for either the M.F. or M.E.M. degree. Both degrees require four semesters and 48 semester hours of credit.

The Master of Environmental Management degree focuses on the following programs of study: coastal environmental management, conservation science and policy, environmental change and water and air resources. The Master of Forestry degree develops experts on sustainable management of forest ecosystems. Students may also choose to enter certificate programs in either energy and environment or geospatial analysis.

The emphasis in all areas is on quantitative methods of analyzing problems, defining objectives, and devising and testing management alternatives. This scientific and analytical background has enabled graduates of the school to attain an excellent record of placement in a variety of forestry and resource management positions with government, industry, consulting firms, universities and nonprofit organizations.

Prerequisites for admission to the M.E.M. and M.F. programs include a strong background in the area of physical or social sciences relevant to the area of interest, one semester of college-level calculus and one semester of college-level statistics.

Each must be passed with a grade of a B minus or better. Additional prerequisites may be necessary for each program of study. Interested students should consult the Thiel adviser to this program, Dr. Michael Balas, Department of Biology. For additional information, please see the Nicholas School's Web site.

Washington Semester Program: Selected students who are majoring in political science, economics, sociology, biology, chemistry and physics may participate in the Washington Semester at American University, Washington D.C. The Washington Semester program includes studies in the following areas: Urban Affairs, American Government, Foreign Policy, International Development and Science and Technology.