Course Offerings

GPA Calculator Course Registration Guide LORIS Browse Classes (formerly Dynamic Schedule)

Departmental course information is available below, in the Academic Calendar and also on the My Learning Space pages for the Biology, Environmental and Applied Water Sciences Programs. The scheduling of courses (times and locations) are subject to change and should be confirmed on LORIS under the "Student Services" tab by accessing the link for "Registration".

All official academic information, including prerequisites and exclusions, can be found in the academic calendars. These can also be found, along with additional enrolment restrictions, times and locations, in the Browse Classes tab in LORIS.

Course Registration Information

Academic Advising

Your undergraduate advisor is Jim McGeer and you can make an appointment to consult about your program/courses by writing to bioadvising@wlu.ca.

For general program and registration information, you may also contact Tricia Lutz.

Closed Courses and Waiting Lists

Courses will fill quickly. Sometimes a course will have a waitlist but if it has a lab or tutorial it will not have a waitlist. If a course you want to take is full, check LORIS regularly, right up until the end of the first two weeks of classes, to see if a space has come available for you.

If you are in 3rd or 4th year and have completed your required 200 level BI courses then keep in mind that you can choose senior BI (HN or WASC) courses at any year level (200, 300 and 400) as long as you have completed the prerequisites. If you aren’t able to enrol in a certain course this year, then you likely will next year.

Full Courses

We cannot give overrides for courses once they are full and at capacity. However, we are interested in knowing when demand exceeds capacity. Please write to bioAdvising@wlu.ca and include the course details. In the subject line of your email include the words “course full” and the course number. We can’t promise solutions.

Enrolling in HN Courses

HN210, HN220 and HN320 are counted towards your senior BI credits but they are the responsibility of the Health Sciences Department. HN210 and HN220 are cross-listed with KP course and are taught by the Kinesiology Department. Therefore the Biology Department has relatively little influence over enrolment issues. HN courses are restricted to HE and KP majors only and this restriction is held for extra time (restrictions are not lifted when other major restrictions are lifted). Often the KP side of the course will have empty seats when the HN side is full and so you will not be able to enrol even though it shows seats are available.

Overrides

You must complete the prerequisite(s) in order to enrol in a course. If you feel you have complete the equivalent of a prerequisite (for example at another university) and it is not recognized in LORIS then you may request an override by writing to bioundergrad@wlu.ca. Include the course title, course code, CRN, details of your rationale, the error messages you receive when you try to enrol and any other relevant information. Merely having an interest in the subject matter and a willingness to work hard is not a rationale for an override.

Overrides will not be given for classes that are full and are at capacity.

Undergraduate Courses

WASC senior courses and senior HN courses count as senior Biology credits.

For questions, comments or concerns regarding laboratory safety, contact Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management.

Fall 2020 Courses

BI110: Unifying Life Processes
BI226: Genetics
BI266: Life on Earth: Plants
BI276: Life on Earth: Microbes
BI300: Environmental Toxicology
BI302: Evolution
BI305: Life and Endosymbiotic Theory
BI330: Fundamentals of Histology
BI346/CH351: Advance Molecular Biology
BI349: Embryology
BI358: Animals: Form and Function
BI363: Plant Ecology
BI368: Plants: Form and Function
BI376: Microbial Physiology
BI416/HE431: Pathophysiology
BI426: Genome Dynamics
BI451: Fish Physiological Adaptations
BI458: Vertebrate Biodiversity and Conservation
BI463: Environmental Stress Biology of Plants
BI470/HE432: Biomedical Virology
BI475: Microbial Ecology
BI484: Fundamentals of Parasitology
BI488: Invertebrate Biodiversity and Conservation
BI499: Thesis
- To apply for our BI499: Thesis course, you will have to complete the BI499 Intent to Register Application Form and attach a letter of motivation.
WASC101: Issues in Water & Environmental Health
WASC302: Limnology
WASC403: Lab Techniques in Water Science

Unless otherwise indicated, courses are 0.5 credit and held on the Waterloo Campus.

† = course normally offered once every two to three years
∗ = 1.0 credits
‡ = 1.5 credits

Winter 2021 Courses

BI111: Biological Diversity and Evolution
BI196: Practical Skill for Biologists
BI206: Ecology
BI236: Cell Biology
BI256: Life on Earth: Animals
BI308: Animal Behaviour
BI309: Population Ecology
BI317/HE303:Introduction to Immunology
BI338: Cells: Form and Function
BI359: Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
BI369: Plant Physiology
BI374: Physiological Applications of Microbiology
BI390: Field Studies - OUPFB
BI392: Field Studies II - OUPFB
BI400: Topics in Environmental Toxicology
BI402/CH454: Bioinformatics
BI405: Community Ecology
BI421: The Human Microbiome
BI441: Recombinant DNA Technology
BI449: Developmental Biology
BI456: Environmental Physiology of Animals
BI459: Endocrinology
BI464: Plants and People
BI468: Plant Biodiversity and Conservation
BI470/HE432: Biomedical Virology
BI476: Microbial Disease
BI499: Thesis
- To apply for our BI499: Thesis course, you will have to complete the BI499 Intent to Register Application Form and attach a letter of motivation.
WASC201: Wetland Science
WASC301: Water Policy & Legislation
WASC401: Source Water Protection and Aquatic Risk Assessment
WASC402: Critical Analysis of Applied Water Science and Environmental Health

Unless otherwise indicated, courses are 0.5 credit and held on the Waterloo Campus.

† = course normally offered once every two to three years
∗ = 1.0 credits
‡ = 1.5 credits

Spring 2021 Courses

Tentative for 2021

BI110: Unifying Life Processes (Summer)
BI111: Biological Diversity Evolution (Summer)
BI226: Genetics (Intersession)
BI236: Cell & Molecular Biology (Summer)
BI256: Life on Earth: Animals (Summer) with lab component
BI396Y: Comparative Zoology (Summer)

Senior Biology Courses with a Lab Component

The following courses contain a laboratory component:

BI499 Thesis

To apply for our BI499 Thesis course, you will have to complete the BI499 Intent to Register Application Form and attach a letter of motivation.

Directed Studies BI495

A directed studies course is an irregular course that enables senior students to work on an independent project under the guidance of a faculty member. Each BI495 course is unique and tailored to the particular project that a student undertakes (with the direction from a faculty member in Biology). Usually the topic is related to the research area/expertise of the supervisor. If you are interested in a Directed Studies:

Learn about the research area of the different faculty members in Biology.
Contact a professor to find out if they are taking on Directed Studies students for the term you are interested in. If they are then:
Meet with the professor to discuss possible projects. If there is a project you are interested in then:
Work with the professor to define details of the project (a course outline): description of work, the expectations, deliverables, due dates, grading scheme etc.
Complete the Directed Study form and deliver it to the Biology Office with the course outline attached. The Chair of the Biology Department and then the Dean of Science will need to review the details and provide their approval. Once they approve, Enrolment Services will (manually) add the course to your record.

University regulations on Directed Studies:

No more than 1.0 (two-term or equivalent) irregular course credit may be counted toward a General degree, and no more than 3.0 toward an Honours degree.
Only students who have successfully completed 5.0 credits may register in an irregular course.
Only students registered in a major or Honours program in a subject may register in a directed studies course in that subject (except with permission of the Dean).
No more than one directed studies course credit with the same instructor may be counted toward a degree (except with permission of the Dean).

Graduate Courses

Graduate course offerings for the MSc in Integrative Biology program for 2020-2021 are listed below. For course offerings related to the PhD in Biological and Chemical Sciences, please visit the PhD website.

BI601: Research in Integrative Biology

This seminar-based course is a core requirement for all students in the MSc in Integrative Biology. Over the course of the term the group will explore the principles underlying integrative approaches to biology.

Fall 2020

Fridays, 8:30-11:20 a.m., M. Wilkie

This course is mandatory for MSc students in their 1st year of study.

BI612: Advanced Biostatistics

This course examines the totality of issues related to data collection, management and analysis for biologists: from the development of hypotheses, the design of experiments, measurement and sampling, to statistical analyses and final publication of results in formats acceptable for scientific reports and papers. Emphasis will be placed on the application of wide variety of statistical methods using statistical software rather than theory, and stress the practical aspects of biostatistics. A problem solving approach to graduate research planning, data acquisition, analysis and publication.

Winter 2021

Tuesdays 8:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m., D. Gray

BI699: MSc Thesis

2.0 credits

Students will complete a thesis based on original research and defend it before an examining committee.

Ongoing: Register each fall, winter and spring term for the duration of your program (including the term in which you plan to defend).