Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Photo: Ophelia Yin
One of the primary goals of biological research is to understand the planet's extraordinary biological diversity. At a time when many ecosystems are under threat from human activities, from the tropical rain forests to coastal marine systems, there is an urgency to these studies. The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology addresses the problem of understanding the origin and maintenance of the world's biological richness with a broad approach, incorporating several disciplines, including behavior, physiology, ecology, genetics, evolution, and conservation biology.
Majors in the department receive a broad and conceptually strong training in biology at the level of individuals, populations, and communities. Laboratory and fieldwork are complementary; faculty and students work together both in labs and in natural settings ranging from our backyards and coastal barrier islands to the tropical forests of Malaysia, Borneo, and Madagascar, as well as Central and South America; the arid lands of Israel and the Galapagos Islands; the grasslands of Kenya and Tanzania; and the heaths of Scotland. Our graduates go on to medical school, veterinary school, and graduate school; become teachers and research workers; or take positions with conservation organizations and government agencies.
What Students Say
• What is ecology and evolutionary biology?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being an EEB major?
• What are common misconceptions about EEB majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have EEB majors had?
• How will EEB majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date an EEB major?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being an EEB major?
• What are common misconceptions about EEB majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have EEB majors had?
• How will EEB majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date an EEB major?
An easy way to distinguish between EEB and MOL is that EEB encompasses everything larger than the cell whereas MOL focuses on dynamics within a cell. This means that EEB students get to explore biology as it relates to life processes — an incredibly diverse topic that includes everything from physiological mechanisms to interactions between organisms to the creation and maintenance of ecosystems and diversity. Some EEB faculty also study life at the cellular level or smaller, for example, microbial ecology or the evolution of the immune system.
There are three groups of core classes that EEB majors have to take: ecology/conservation, evolution/genetics, and behavior/physiology. So no matter what particular branch of biology you're most interested in, there's a spot for you in the EEB department. Undergrads can do research on a wide range of topics, from developmental genetics to behavioral ecology to biological systems like endocrinology. A single research project can often include both field and lab work, although some projects mainly use one or the other.
EEB really gives you the freedom to explore whatever facet of life science you find to be most interesting, all while grounding your study in a fundamental appreciation and understanding for the processes that are responsible for the diversity of life.
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Even more so than in most departments, EEB is what you make of it. You can choose to focus your studies on the macro scale (animal behavior, climate change, epidemiology), the micro scale (genetics, viruses, crickets) or some combination of the two. How much you learn is typically proportional to how passionate you are about the topic you ultimately choose to focus your independent work on and how many resources you take advantage of (in the EEB department and beyond) while at Princeton.
EEB is an extremely flexible department which will enable you to tailor its curriculum to your interests and needs.
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What is it like being an EEB major?
Being an EEB major means having the freedom to follow your interests. The EEB department requirements let you gain a general background in the life sciences, and preserve your ability to design your own course of study. For instance, as an EEB major, you can take courses in the Molecular Biology, Anthropology, Woodrow Wilson School, and Chemistry Departments (to name a few), and the best part about it is that those courses can sometimes count as departmentals! Furthermore, the EEB Department offers two study abroad programs in Kenya and Panama. Students get to take courses with Princeton professors in a foreign country and don't have to worry about fulfilling departmentals or being able to transfer course credits. Not to mention, Princeton professors are pretty fun to hang out with outside of the classroom/country. Seriously!
As for the JP and thesis, the same freedom students have with their courses applies to independent work. Got an idea? There's a professor who is willing to work on it with you, and if your topic relates to another department, you can work with a second adviser in that department. You even get guidance on choosing an adviser. In the fall of your junior year, all juniors get together for junior tutorial, a weekly seminar that introduces students to the different EEB professors and their research as well as how to use the library system. Oh, and there are always cookies and juice! So you can think of it as a weekly study break! At the end of the tutorial, students submit the name of their preferred adviser, and most students get their first choice.
Also, if you ever have a question or get lost in all of your freedom, there is always someone to talk to, especially Lolly O'Brien, the best program administrator EVER. Send her an e-mail if you have any questions and she will immediately write back with an extremely helpful response. EEB majors are happy with their choice of major. Just ask any of us what we think!
1. It is all simple and boring memorization. This misconception seems to spring up as a result of introductory classes. Try taking an upper-level class and you'll see that it’s much more about understanding important concepts and principles than memorizing facts.
2. We are all modern-day tree-hugging, animal-loving hippies. About half of EEB majors are also pre-meds so you can think of them as people-loving more than animal-loving. Although there are many with environmental concerns in the department, the department is much more diverse than a clan of hippies.
3. We are the easier biology major (thus the moniker "Easy Easy Biology"). Any major at Princeton is what you make of it. Whether or not you choose to challenge yourself is really a function of your own attitude.
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EEB majors have had interesting summer experiences: for example, one recently spent the summer before junior year interning at an NGO just outside of Rome, Italy called Bioversity International. Bioversity is an independently operated organization that works to promote the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity across the globe. Sponsored by Princeton's International Internship Program (IIP), this intern worked for the Public Awareness unit, composing articles for 'Geneflow Magazine', a publication released once a year which showcases Bioversity's successes in improving the lives of marginalized farmers and the health of children, families and the environment.
Other examples of internships that have been held include working for Friends of Princeton Open Space (right by campus) and an environmental health position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA.
EEB faculty are happy to involve you in their exciting research programs; however you need to take the initiative and contact them about your interest. Getting involved in a research team is a great way to learn about biology at an advanced level. There are generous funds available for summer research.
If you are interested in international experiences, EEB is a good choice for a department. The semester abroad programs in Panama and Kenya are incredibly rewarding experiences that enable you to explore many aspects of biology that are simply unavailable in laboratories at Princeton. From observing schools of fish in the warm waters of the Caribbean in order to study their behavior, to taking a transect across Vulcan Baru, to tracking the circadian rhythm of golden collared manikins, we get a fantastic introduction to field research. From the field semesters you learn how to ask good research questions (that can be answered in a few days — the hardest questions of all), how to design solid projects, how to collect data, and how to analyze what you've collected. Depending on how the classes are organized each year, you may get the opportunity to conduct three separate research projects in three months, which is great practice and exposure to research for one semester of education.
We will become professors, physicians, veterinarians, lawyers, entrepreneurs and environmental policy-makers and activists. We will protect both human and non-human lives and the environment on which they depend. We will fend off global warming, keep track of the health of dozens of species, and make sure that the oceans aren't overfished, so people don't starve in years to come. And, if an asteroid ever destroys Earth, it is the EEB majors who will have the best idea of what our species needs and what other species need to restart life on another planet.
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We are a diverse group of fun, loving people who know how to wild out and care about our surroundings.
By dating an EEB major you might get to travel to interesting places with them. And you can have a part in saving the world. But even better than dating an EEB major is being one.