The WKU Graduate Program in Biology - The WKU Biology department offers the Master of Science in Biology degree. Training in Biology provides many opportunities in teaching, research, and public service and provides excellent preparation for many other areas of basic and applied sciences. In additional to the traditional MS in Biology Degree, we also recently started an online Non-thesis MS in Biology designed for in-service teachers.

WKU Biology faculty research interests have been organized around two themes.

Biodiversity (we have a Biodiversity Center) - The Biodiversity Center was established at Western Kentucky University to coordinate, promote and study biodiversity issues in the state. Our objective is to serve as a resource for information relating to Kentucky biota, from basic demographic, evolutionary and ecological parameters to the role of biodiversity in the economic development of the Commonwealth.

Biotechnology Center (we have a Biotechnology Center) - The Biotechnology Center at Western Kentucky University was established to facilitate hands-on educational opportunities for students in the Department of Biology's programs and to provide technical and educational services to the State of Kentucky, the biotechnology industry, and the general public. The Biotechnology Center is a part of Western's Applied Research and Technology Program, which provides multidisciplinary scientific and technical assistance needed to help solve industrial and environmental problems.

Mike Ruhl of Quentin, Pa., won the Best Student Paper Award at the Kentucky Chapter of the American Fisheries Society anuual meeting with his presentation "Effects of Hydrology on Nontroglobitic Fishes in the Subterranean Rivers of Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky." Ruhl's research is supported by a cooperative agreement between WKU and Mammoth Cave National Park. The paper was co-authored by Glasgow senior Travis Varney and biology faculty member Philip Lienesch.

This is the second year in a row that a WKU student has won the Best Student Paper Award. Six Western students and two faculty members attended the meeting Jan. 25-26 at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center. Other participants represented the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Eastern Kentucky University and Murray State University.