Majors and Minors

Animal Science

What do animal science professionals do?

• Livestock production, marketing, public affairs, transportation, processing, research, management
• Advance agriculture using multidisciplinary approaches
• Generate, teach, disseminate and apply knowledge in animal biology and management

• Pharmaceutical organizations, food processing industry and breed associations, livestock commodity groups
• Research facilities in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), universities and private companies
• Education: teaching animal science at colleges and universities, vocational agriculture in high school and cooperative Extension Service

Biology

The Lyman Briggs College biology major is designed to provide students with a comprehensive overview of seminal and modern biology using a broad spectrum approach to studying biological sciences with course options from the three primary sectors: plant, animal, and microbial.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• Develop and use techniques to learn about genes and proteins
• Increase understanding of human disease processes and aging
• Genetic engineering of plants and animals, or produce products such as drugs, foods, and fuels

• Environmental and pollution control companies and research
• County, state, or federal government agencies (USDA, EPA, NIH)
• Industry (research and development at vaccine, pharmaceutical, and other biotech companies)

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/Biotechnology

• Develop and use techniques to learn about genes and proteins
• Increase understanding of human disease processes and aging
• Genetic engineering of plants and animals, or produce products such as drugs, foods, and fuels

• Environmental and pollution control companies and research
• County, state, or federal government agencies (USDA, EPA, NIH)
• Industry (research and development at vaccine, pharmaceutical, and other biotech companies)

Biomedical Laboratory Science

• Clinical Laboratory Scientists/Medical Technologists (terms are synonymous) are scientists who apply their knowledge to perform diagnostic tests on blood and body fluids. The sub-disciplines include, but are not limited to, clinical chemistry, hematology, immunology, immunohematology and microbiology. 

• Hospitals or private laboratories, medical sales or education
• Federal, state, and local health departments
• Commercial and academic biomedical research laboratories or forensic laboratories

Entomology

• Study and manage insects and their relatives’ effects on human activities
• Manage non-agricultural, long-term aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
• Study interactions of insects and their relatives with economic plants and sustainable agriculture

• Nature organizations and educational institutions
• Forensic laboratories
• Agricultural organizations

Food Science

• Combine the study of science and engineering to process, evaluate, package and distribute food
• Seek to improve food flavor, color, texture, nutritional values, safety and cost

• Product development and food processing or research
• Private industries
• Production and operative management, regulatory agencies

Genomics and Molecular Genetics

• Molecular geneticist studies the genes of living organisms and infectious agents, many of which can only be seen with a microscope. They may focus on findings critical to health, agriculture, environmental sciences, or how living systems function at the molecular level.

• Environmental and pollution control companies
• County, state, or federal government agencies (NIH, USDA, EPA)
• Industry – research in labs, vaccine companies, pharmaceutical companies. Product safety

Human Biology

• Use broad background in biological sciences to understand the interrelationships among fields.

• Healthcare fields
• Health and wellness programs

Microbiology

• A microbiologist is a scientist who studies living organisms and infectious agents, many of which can only be seen with a microscope. They may focus on findings critical to health, agriculture, environmental sciences, or how living systems function at the molecular level.

• Environmental and pollution control companies
• County, state, or federal government agencies (NIH, USDA, EPA)
• Industry – research and product safety in labs, vaccine companies, pharmaceutical companies

Neuroscience

What do neuroscientists do?

• Study function, development, and structure of the central nervous system, investigate thought, behavior, emotion, cognition
• Combine different disciplinary approaches from biology, chemistry, physics, computational science to find ways to prevent or cure neurological or psychiatric disorders

• Healthcare fields, pharmaceutical industry
• Laboratory technician/administrator
• Science Journalism, grants administration, consulting, law, public Policy

Nutritional Sciences 

• Explore the science of nutrition and the relationships between nutrients and human health 

• Food industry
• Health and wellness programs, Healthcare fields, Pharmaceutical industry
• Public Health, State departments and community health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Physiology

• Study life processes, both in the whole organism and at cellular and molecular levels 

• Commercial and academic biomedical research laboratories
• Medical fields

Plant Biology

• Study the form, function, diversity, reproduction, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere. Ecologists, botanists, and taxonomists can be plant biologists, as well as plant pathologists. People working with algae and fungi are often trained as or called plant biologists (even though, technically, those groups arena’t plants).

• Environmental and pollution control companies
• County, state, or federal government agencies (USDA, NRCS, Forest Service) or Secondary school teaching
• Nature organizations, public botanical gardens, agricultural industries

Zoology

• Study life at the level of the cell, organism, population, community, and/or ecosystem. Ecologists, marine biologists, taxonomists, wildlife and fisheries biologists, and others are examples of zoologists.

• County, state, and federal agencies – in research or regulation and enforcement of environmental laws
• Industry – such as monitoring effluent production and land use around a factory and measuring environmental health
• Zoos – as animal caretakers or zookeepers
• Nature centers and museums as environmental educators 

Environmental Biology/Microbiology

What do microbiologists do?

• A microbiologist is a scientist who studies living organisms and infectious agents, many of which can only be seen with a microscope. They may focus on findings critical to health, agriculture, environmental sciences, or how living systems function at the molecular level.

Where are they employed?

• Environmental and pollution control companies
• County, state, or federal government agencies (NIH, USDA, EPA)
• Industry – research in labs, vaccine companies, pharmaceutical companies. Product safety

Environmental Biology/Plant Biology 

What do plant biologists do?

• Study the form, function, diversity, reproduction, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere. Ecologists, botanists, and taxonomists can be plant biologists, as well as plant pathologists. People working with algae and fungi are often trained as or called plant biologists (even though, technically, those groups aren't’t plants).

Where are they employed?

• Environmental and pollution control companies
• County, state, or federal government agencies (USDA, NRCS, Forest Service) or Secondary school teaching
• Nature organizations and Public botanical gardens, Agricultural industries

Environmental Biology/Zoology

What do zoologists do?

• Study life at the level of the cell, organism, population, community, and/or ecosystem. Ecologists, marine biologists, taxonomists, wildlife and fisheries biologists, and others are examples of zoologists.

Where are they employed?

• County, state, and federal agencies – in research or regulation and enforcement of environmental laws
• Industry – such as monitoring effluent production and land use around a factory and measure environmental health
• Zoos – as animal caretakers or zookeepers

Environmental educators at nature centers or museums

Environmental Geoscience

What do geological scientists do?

• Use their knowledge to locate water, mineral, and energy resources
• Protect the environment, predict future geologic hazards, and offer advice on construction and land use projects
• Disciplines are geology, paleontology, geochemistry, mineralogy, hydrology, environmental science, and soil science

Where are they employed?

• Environmental and pollution control companies or government (NOAA, NRCS, USGS)
• Industry (oil, mineral, natural gas, and water exploration and mining)
• Secondary school teaching, museums or research

Environmental Sciences and Management

What do environmental scientists do?

• Improve the natural environment and address effects of human activity on the environment
• Address soil fertility, water purity, food supply quality and safety, natural resources, pollution, plants climate change
• Increase knowledge about the physical and biological environment and natural disasters

Where are they employed?

• Nature organizations, Environmental Impact Firms, pollution control companies

• County, state, or federal government agencies, museums or teaching
• Industry (oil, mineral, natural gas, and water exploration and mining)

Fisheries and Wildlife

What do fisheries and wildlife professionals do?

• Meet the global challenges that threaten the sustainability of our ecosystems
• Apply knowledge of socio-ecological systems to develop, implement, and evaluate natural resource management strategies
• Understand and apply natural resource management into a science-based approach

Where are they employed?

• Conservation officers
• Environmental consultants or administrators
• Federal, state and private agencies and organizations concerned with environmental management

Forestry

What do foresters do?

• Develop plans to balance forest conservation, recreation and products
• Promote a sustainable economy through renewable forest products
• Conserve biological diversity and habitats
• Mitigate climate change through reforestation and managing carbon offset projects
• Control the negative effects of invasive exotic plant and insect species
• Enhance biodiversity and alleviate rural poverty through international reforestation
• Create urban green space and infrastructure

Where do foresters work?

• State Departments of Natural Resources (MI and other states)
• U.S. Forest Service
• U.S. Bureau of Land Management
• Tree care companies
• Community non-profits
• City forestry organizations
• Conservation groups
• Peace Corps
• Real estate investment trusts
• Timber management companies
• Forestry consulting firms

Actuarial Science

What do actuarial science professionals do?

• Apply mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in the insurance and finance industries
• Provide data collection, measurement, estimating, forecasting, and evaluation tools to provide data
• Assess the overall risk from catastrophic events in relation to its underwriting capacity or surplus

Where are they employed?

• Insurance companies
• Banks and investment firms
• Governmental organizations and hospitals

Computational and Applied Mathematics-Bachelor of Science

What do mathematicians do?

• Use modeling and computational methods to formulate and solve practical

Where are they employed?

• Industry – process design, traffic analysis, electric power routing, inflation statistics, computer software design
• Business – actuaries, financial analysts, insurance underwriters, budget analysts, market research
• Federal government – cryptology, data mining, and other advanced mathematics or Secondary school teaching

Computer Science Coordinate Major

What do computer scientists do?

• Analyze problems and select appropriate paradigms to solve them
• Design and implement software
• Manage system resources

Where are they employed?

• Companies in need of web design, computer networking, game design, cognitive science, telecommunications, etc.
• Research facilities focusing on software engineering, biometrics, image processing, robotics, etc.
• University, college, and secondary school teaching, museums or research

• Use analytical tools and methods to discern meaningful insights from data.

Where are they employed?

• In scientific research and development firms
• Technical consulting
• Companies and enterprises in many fields
• Insurance carriers
• Computer systems design companies

Mathematics

What do mathematicians do?

• Use modeling and computational methods to formulate and solve practical

Where are they employed?

• Industry – process design, traffic analysis, electric power routing, inflation statistics, computer software design
• Business – actuaries, financial analysts, insurance underwriters, budget analysts, market research
• Federal government – cryptology, data mining, and other advanced mathematics or Secondary school teaching

Mathematics, Advanced (Honors)

What do mathematicians do?

• Use modeling and computational methods to formulate and solve practical

Where are they employed?

• Industry – process design, traffic analysis, electric power routing, inflation statistics, computer software design
• Business – actuaries, financial analysts, insurance underwriters, budget analysts, market research
• Federal government – cryptology, data mining, and other advanced mathematics or Secondary school teaching

Statistics

What do statisticians do?

• Collect data and analyze it, looking for patterns that explain behavior or describe the world. 
• Develop surveys and collect data
• Ensure the validity and usefulness of data
• Explain trends in data

• Public and private companies
• Healthcare industry
• Media
• Government

Astrophysics

What do astrophysicists do?

• Research the principles of light, motion, and natural forces as they pertain to the universe at large
• Investigate the formation of stars, planets and galaxies using mathematics, computing and physics
• Engage in theoretical physics studies in an attempt to learn more about the underlying properties of the cosmos

Where are they employed?

• Research facilities in universities and private companies
• Teach in colleges and universities
• Observatories, government agencies or Institutes or corporations with special interests in space and technology

Chemical Physics

What do chemists do?

• Study the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems

Where are they employed?

• Environmental and pollution control companies, forensic science, or teaching
• County, state, or federal government agencies
• Industry laboratory research, quality analysis, and testing (pharmaceutical and other biotech companies; food manufacturing, and materials science in paint and plastics companies)

Chemistry

What do chemists do?

• Study the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems

Where are they employed?

• Environmental and pollution control companies, forensic science, or teaching
• County, state, or federal government agencies
• Industry laboratory research, quality analysis, and testing (pharmaceutical and other biotech companies; food manufacturing, and materials science in paint and plastics companies)

Geological Science

What do geological scientists do?

• Use their knowledge to locate water, mineral, and energy resources
• Protect the environment, predict future geologic hazards, and offer advice on construction and land use projects
• Disciplines are geology, paleontology, geochemistry, mineralogy, hydrology, environmental science, and soil science

Where are they employed?

• Environmental and pollution control companies or government (NOAA, NRCS, USGS)
• Industry (oil, mineral, natural gas, and water exploration and mining)
• Secondary school teaching, museums or research

Physical Science

The Lyman Briggs College physical science major is an approach to studying analytical sciences with foundations in physics, astrophysics, chemistry, biochemistry, and geological sciences.

Physics

• Explore and identify basic principles governing the structure and behavior of matter and the interaction of matter and energy

• Research – government and private industries or teaching
• Radiation monitoring, electrical power plants
• Health - nuclear medicine, radiation therapy

Science and Society

• Use knowledge to improve understanding of science, technology, the environment, and medicine
• Examine numerous empirical, conceptual, and theoretical issues related to these substantive areas

• Public policy agencies and law firms
• County, state, or federal government agencies
• Industry, education, museums and universities as research faculty

Integrated Science-Secondary Education

Lyman Briggs College 3+4 Program in partnership with MSUCOM

Bioethics

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Science and Society

Science, Technology, Environment, and Public Policy