The 91探花 has a biology department.
You couldn鈥檛 say that last century. You couldn鈥檛 say it last year. You couldn鈥檛 even say it last month.
But on Feb. 1, after many months of planning and many more just wrestling with the idea, it finally came true. That was the date the Board of Regents authorized the departments of botany and zoology and the undergraduate biology program to merge into the new Department of Biology.
The most notable element of the merger from an outsider鈥檚 perspective is that the study of plants and animals no longer is segregated into different departments. Instead, the study of all life will take place in the same department, though at different levels: the cell, the organism and the ecosystem.
鈥淚f your goal is to do the best conservation biology, you can鈥檛 do the best conservation biology involving animals if you don鈥檛 understand what鈥檚 happening to plants in their environment,鈥� said Tom Daniel, the former zoology professor who is chairman of the new department.
Daniel notes, for instance, that a new faculty member, Joshua Tewksbury, studies 鈥渢he evolution of hot鈥� 鈥� that is, how plants such as chilies use the chemical capsaicin, which generates their hot-and-spicy taste, but also studies animals that have developed receptors to detect capsaicin.
The new biology department, with about 900 undergraduates, becomes the second-largest degree program at the UW, eclipsed only by art. There also are more than 100 graduate students 鈥� whom Daniel calls 鈥渙ur partners in research鈥� and regards as a key element to the department鈥檚 success. There are 50 voting faculty members, plus three teaching and 15 non-teaching emeritus faculty members.
To former botany Chairman Joseph Ammirati, botany, zoology and biology have been fairly well integrated for some time in terms of research and teaching, especially in the areas of ecology and evolution. Changes at the undergraduate and graduate levels, he said, will largely be a matter of improving and further developing existing programs. But the sheer size makes the new department one to be reckoned with, he said, one that is able to provide better education and training for students as well as a broader, stronger research base.
鈥淚t makes us a big unit, where we can take advantage of all those undergraduates to fight it out with other science departments for funding and other resources. Botany was pretty small,鈥� said Ammirati, who will be one of three associate chairs in the new department, overseeing facilities and financing.
鈥淚 expect we鈥檒l do all right,鈥� Ammirati said. 鈥淚n the end, all of these units depend on the quality of their faculty. We鈥檝e got a strong faculty and if we can maintain that, I think we鈥檒l do quite well.鈥�
Barbara Wakimoto, a zoology professor who was director of the old biology program, doesn鈥檛 see any drawbacks for the throng of biology undergraduates. Previously, biology majors could have followed a botany track, a zoology track or two tracks within her program 鈥� cell molecular biology or ecology, evolution and conservation biology. Now the choices will be streamlined.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 three units that have very similar goals. From an undergraduate viewpoint, botany and zoology were the major contributors to our program. Not the only contributors by any means, but the core contributors,鈥� said Wakimoto, who will be an associate chairwoman of the new department overseeing undergraduate education.
John Wingfield, former zoology chairman, believes the merger can only mean a better program both for undergraduates and graduate students.
鈥淚 think for the students, it鈥檚 going to be a stronger degree program. We hope it will be one of the best there is, now that we have such breadth,鈥� Wingfield said.
But he also sees great opportunities in the area of community outreach, and is heading a committee to spearhead the department鈥檚 efforts in that area. Already there are programs that work with K-12 teachers, and Wingfield is involved in a science program at Ingraham High School. He鈥檚 also working with neighborhood residents on an effort to create a marine reserve on the shores of Puget Sound between Golden Gardens and Carkeek Park.
Daniel, the new chairman, sees community outreach as a vital adjunct to the department鈥檚 core functions of undergraduate and graduate education and research. He sees each of those areas augmenting each of the others, but he is particularly keen on having a program that will draw the best graduate students.
He doesn鈥檛 expect the merger to result in any loss of jobs, though staff will be 鈥渞edeployed鈥� as needed to eliminate duplication and to beef up areas where additional help is needed. He credits the three staffs involved 鈥渨ith a level of patience that鈥檚 unbelievable鈥� as the changes unfold.
鈥淭hese people believe in the same things we do. They want to promote the strongest department possible.鈥�
And that, Daniel said, is the bottom line.
鈥淭he University needs us to be successful and we want to be successful,鈥� he said. 鈥淏iology lies at the core of every ethical, policy and economic issue facing people today.鈥�