A Brief History of the Biology Program

The Biology program was established in 1966 as part of the science curriculum of the new Seattle Community College. The initial goal was to fulfill lab requirements for non-science majors and to prepare students for transfer to the UW. Over the years, we have broadened our goals as our students have entered with more diverse educational and career objectives. In addition, advances in the biological sciences have given our field increasing prominence in the public consciousness (e.g., the human genome project, health and medical research, global epidemics, environmental awareness, etc.).

Today, the Biology program includes not only Biology (BIO), but also several sub-programs or disciplines: Anatomy and Physiology (ANP), Botany (BOT), Environmental Studies (ENV), Health (HEA), Nutrition (NTR), and Oceanography (OCE). In addition, the Biotechnology Program has been running since 1990, training students to enter careers in the rapidly growing biotechnology industry.

Under the umbrella of the Biology program, we offer a wide variety of courses for college-transfer, pre-Allied Health, and non-majors students. Moreover, we continually revise our course offerings and curriculum to meet the changing needs of our students.