Mission: The mission of the Biological Sciences Department at Victor Valley College is to provide a quality science education for students in the vocational education, general education, and transfer pathways. The Biology faculty are dedicated to providing a thorough biology education that responds to the diverse institutional and community needs.
Biology Majors take a two-semester series of rigorous, comprehensive core courses that are transferable to four-year institutions. These include Biology of Cells (Biology 201) and Biology of Organisms (Biology 202). The department has currently developed curricula for additional majors' courses, including zoology, botany, biostatistics, and ecology in anticipation of the pending Chancellor's Office approval of an Associate of Science degree in Biology, which will facilitate transfer of biology majors to CSU and UC.
Pre-Nursing: Anatomy (Biology 211), Physiology (Biology 231), and Microbiology (Biology 221) courses meet the prerequisite needs of students wishing to enter nursing programs at VVC and elsewhere. Note: students must first complete General Biology (Biology 100) or Human Biology (Biology 107) and a college chemistry course with lab (Chemistry 100 or Chemistry 201) before enrolling in the pre-nursing courses (physiology also requires anatomy as a pre-requisite). Prerequisites will be enforced.
General Education Science Requirement: We also offer courses designed to fulfill the laboratory science general education requirement for non-majors planning to earn their associate's degree or transfer to four-year institutions, including General Biology (Biology 100-CSU and UC), Human Biology (Biology 107-CSU only), Field Biology (Biology 109-CSU only), and General Botany (Biology 104-CSU and UC).
Non-Laboratory Science units required for the Associate's Degree or for transfer may be met by taking Principles of Inheritance (Biology 118), Introduction to Ecology (Biology 114), or Biology of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (Biology 113). You can find information on these and other courses by clicking on the homepages of various instructors.
Certificate Programs: Our Biotechnology and Laboratory Certificate Program trains students in the use of the latest in laboratory technology, and the accompanying internship program provides additional training and experience. Click on the Biotechnology homepage for more information. We also offer courses that are an integral part of the Forensics Certificate Program, including Forensic Pathology (Biology 54) and Forensic Entomology (Biology 52). In addition, our department offers the community a wide diversity of local natural history courses and international natural history courses (Biology 98/250).
Career Opportunities in the biological sciences are quite varied, and some may require advanced degrees. Possibilities include but are not limited to: environmental analyst or consultant, forest ranger, laboratory technician, biotechnologist, range manager, marine biologist, medical technologist, entomologist, botanist, plant pathologist, greenhouse manager, criminal intelligence specialist, genetics counselor, biology teacher, mortician, coroner, doctor, dentist, nurse, veterinarian, zookeeper, biostatistician, ichthyologist, biogeographer.