Dean's Message

Marie Johnson, Ph.D.

In the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, we educate our students to be globally engaged citizens and prepare them for professional careers and to pursue advanced degrees in the sciences and mathematics. We have a proud history of providing our students with hands-on, laboratory and field-based experiences where our students learn concepts and put these concepts into practice. A typical graduate of our science departments will have completed between 500 and 1,000 hours of laboratory or fieldwork. We emphasize inquiry-based learning in our programs and work to ensure our students develop the needed critical thinking skills to excel in the professional workplace or in the pursuit of higher academic degrees. Our students also 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 or field.

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

Graduates from our programs in Biological Science, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Geological Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics:

  • Know the basic concepts and principles of science and mathematics
  • Are experienced in working collectively and collaboratively to solve problems
  • Communicate both orally and in writing with clarity, precision, and confidence
  • Are adept at using computers to do word processing, prepare spreadsheets and graphs, and create electronic presentations
  • Possess skills in information retrieval using library resources and the Internet
  • Have extensive laboratory/workshop/field experience where they employ the scientific method to ask questions, formulate hypotheses, design & conduct experiments, and analyze data
  • Appreciate diverse cultures by working side by side with many people in collaborative efforts in the classroom and laboratory and on research projects
  • In many instances worked individually with faculty conducting research and independent projects. In addition to the attributes of all CNSM students, these students generate original data and contribute to the research knowledge base
  • Have had the opportunity to work with very modern, sophisticated equipment including advanced computer hardware and software

We hope you find the information associated with our website useful and we look forward to getting to know you through 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