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Dept. of Biology
30 N. Brainard St.
Naperville, IL 60540
(630) 637-5181
Major NSF grant awarded to Joanna Weremijewicz!
Plant ecologist Joanna Weremijewicz has been awarded a $700,000 CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation for her work on The Role of Common Mycorrhizal Networks in the Establishment, Environmental Change, and Persistence of an Invasive Plant Species in the Tallgrass Prairie. This prestigious award recognizes Joanna as an early-career faculty member with potential to serve as an academic role model in research and education.
Home of the Biology Department
Our immersive, research-rich biology and biochemistry programs are located in the new Wentz Science Center--come check us out!
First-Year Research in BIOL 195
NCC Biology majors engage in genuine research from their first day. In BIOL 195, first-semester freshmen and transfers investigate West Nile virus in local mosquitoes. Here, they're presenting posters on their work at the end of the semester.
Undergraduate Research
Students become biologists as they engage in research with faculty mentors. Stipends are available for full-time research in our summer program (learn more and apply here), or students can do research for course credit during the academic year. Capstone courses also offer a taste of research through independent projects.
Dart Foundation grant
A $5,000 grant from the Dart Foundation will allow the Biology Department to purchase two dissecting microscopes with streaming video capability to support BIOL 195 and other courses.
Tri-Beta trip to Starved Rock
Tri-Beta, our biology honor society, sponsored a trip to Starved Rock State Park to see waterfalls and spring flowers.
Feed A Bee grant funds prairie development
North Central biology students have an experimental restored prairie right on campus thanks to the efforts of Dr. Greg Ruthig and other Biology and Environmental Studies faculty. Dr. Ruthig recently received a $5000 grant from Bayer's Feed A Bee program, supporting the prairie's role in providing habitat for native pollinators.
Students Receive Research Grant
Lauren Bode (left) and Ana Cvetkovic received a $500 grant from the Illinois State Academy of Sciences to provide supplies to support their research with Dr. Greg Ruthig on water molds that infect amphibian eggs.
Be a Citizen-Scientist
North Central College is now a partner in the Chicago Botanical Garden's budburst project, a citizen-scientist project to monitor effects of a changing climate on plants in our area.
Research Presentations
Summer research students are pictured presenting their work at a poster session early in Fall term, the culminating event in our annual Summer Undergraduate Research Colloquium (SURC). Students may also present the results of their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCURor at regional or national professional conferences.
Field Courses
North Central students interested in fields such as ecology, botany and zoology have opportunities to work in the field at local or remote sites. Pictured here are Greg Ruthig and his students, who traveled to Africa for a recent field course, Natural History of Bioko Island.
NCC is a Level One Arboretum
ArbNet has recently approved North Central College as a Level One Arboretum. A campus-wide tree survey conducted by student researchers collaborating with Biology faculty was instrumental in achieving this designation.
NCC Students Publish and Present!
Ana Cvetkovic, Prerana Shrestha, and Lauren Bode published their research on a frog die-off due to amphibian pathogens and presented their work at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
NSF Grants Support NCC Students
Two grants awarded by the National Science Foundation will provide valuable support for NCC students. An NSF S-STEM grant created our Leadership Experience and Advancement Program in STEM (LEAPS), providing scholarships up to $10,000 to Pell-eligible STEM students. An NSF-Noyce grant enabled our Commitment to Recruit, Educate, and Assist Teachers in Equity (CREATE) project (faculty sponsors pictured) to provide scholarships and support for students pursuing secondary education careers in STEM.