Dean's Message

Scientists and mathematicians are driven by curiosity to study the natural world. We hypothesize, test, model, and explain complex phenomena. Our work furthers human understanding, alleviates human misery, and creates a brighter tomorrow. The promise of this brighter tomorrow is only realized if it applies to all. The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment for our students, staff, and faculty. We hold ourselves accountable for our words and our actions and, as a community, seek to identify and eliminate systemic racism and biases from our midst. We assert our commitment to equitable, inclusive science and mathematics teaching, mentoring, and learning knowing such education has the power to transform the world.

Graduates from our programs in Biological Science, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Geological Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics are prepared for professional careers and to pursue advanced degrees in the sciences and mathematics. We are proud to provide our students with hands-on, laboratory, computational, and field-based experiences where concepts are learned and practiced. A typical graduate of our science departments will have completed between 500 and 1,000 hours of field and laboratory work. Our programs emphasize inquiry-based learning and ensure students develop the needed critical thinking skills to excel in the professional workplace or in the pursuit of higher academic degrees. Our students receive extensive experience in communicating their ideas, orally and in writing. We encourage our undergraduates to work on real world research problems and each semester hundreds of them can be found working side-by-side with faculty mentors in the laboratory and field.

Our philosophy is rooted in our motto "Exploration by inquiry, learning through discovery".

We hope you find the information associated with our website useful and we look forward to getting to know you through our classes and labs and via one of our many organizations or activities. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions about the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

 

Marie Johnson, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics