IB Pathways

Here are four possible areas in which students can create their own focused mini-curricula within the IB/OEB requirements. We encourage students to follow their interests in creating their own pathways within IB/OEB. 

Plant Sciences

PLANT SCIENCES:

  1. Courses for Non- and Pre-Concentrators
    • OEB 10: Foundations of Biological Diversity (Fall)
    • Freshman Seminar 21w Research at the Harvard Forest: Global Change Ecology - Forests, Ecosystem Function, the Future (Fall)
  2. Introductory Courses in Plant Biology
    • OEB 52 Biology of Plants (Spring)
    • OEB 59 Plants and Human Affairs (Spring)
  3. 100-level Courses in Plant Biology
    • OEB 103 Plant Systematics and Evolution (Spring)
    • OEB 106 Plant Development and Differentiation (Fall)
    • OEB 120 Plants and Climate (Fall)
    • OEB 168r Sociobotany; Life Cycles of Plants (Spring)
  4. Related Courses
    • OEB 55 Ecology: Populations, Communities, and Ecosystems (Fall)
    • OEB 157 Global Change Biology (Fall)
    • 200-level Seminar Courses
      • OEB 212r Advanced Topics in Plant Physiology (Fall)
      • OEB 268r Topics in Plant Developmental Genetics (Fall)
  5. Research Courses
    • OEB 91r Supervised Reading
    • OEB 99r Supervised Research

Marine Biology & Biological Oceanography

MARINE BIOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY:

  1. OEB courses with a strong marine component.
    • OEB 51 Biology and Evolution of Invertebrate Animals (Spring)
    • OEB 60 Marine Biology (currently on hiatus)
    • OEB 119 Deep Sea Biology (Fall)
    • OEB 130 Patterns and Processes in Fish Diversity (Spring)
    • OEB 157 Global Change Biology (Fall)
  2. OEB courses with some focus on marine organisms
    • OEB 177 Microbial Symbioses and Microbiomes (Spring)
  3. Related courses offered by other departments
    • EPS 50: The Fluid Earth: Oceans, Atmosphere, Climate and Environment (Fall)
    • EPS 53: Marine Geochemistry (Fall
    • EPS 261 Sea Level Change (Spring)

Mathematical and Computational Biology

MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY:

  1. Foundation Courses
    • OEB 53 Evolutionary Biology (Fall)
    • OEB 55 Ecology: Populations, Communities, and Ecosystems (Fall)
    • Mathematics 21a,b (Fall, Spring)
    • Statistics 110, 111 (Fall, Spring)
    • Applied Math 10 Computing with Python for Scientists and Engineers (Fall)
  2. Advanced Courses
    • OEB 242 Population Genetics (Spring)
    • OEB 125 Molecular Ecology & Evolution (Fall)
    • OEB 181 Systematics (Fall)
    • Applied Mathematics 115 Mathematical Modeling (Fall, Spring)
    • Mathematics 243 Mathematical Biology - Evolutionary Dynamics (Spring)
    • MCB 111 Mathematics in Biology (Fall)
    • MCB 112 Biological Data Analysis (Fall)
    • Statistics 115 Introduction to Bioinformatics and Statistical Genetics (Spring)
    • Statistics 117 Data analysis in modern biostatistics (Spring)
  3. Graduate Courses
    • OEB 253r Evolutionary Genetics Seminar (Spring)

Vertebrate Anatomy & Physiology

VERTEBRATE ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY:

  1. Introductory Courses
    • LS 2 Evolutionary Human Physiology and Anatomy (Fall)
    • OEB 58 To Build an Animal (Fall)
  2. Mid-level and Advanced Courses
    • OEB 130 Biology of Fishes (Spring)
    • OEB 167 Herpetology (Spring)
    • OEB 190 Biology and Diversity of Birds (Spring)
    • OEB 207 The Fishy Aspects of the Human Body
  3. Graduate Courses
    • OEB 320 Biomechanics and Evolution of Vertebrates
    • OEB 323 Advanced Vertebrate Anatomy
  4. Relevant Courses in Human Evolutionary Biology
    • HEB 50 Human Metabolism (Spring)
    • HEB 55 Human Evolutionary Anatomy (Spring)
    • HEB 130 Hormones & Behavior (Spring)
  5. Relevant Courses in Engineering Sciences
    • ES 53 Quantitative Physiology as a Basis for Bioengineering (Fall)
    • ES 123 Introduction to Fluid Mechanics and Transport Processes (Spring)