In an effort to join departments with the same views and ideas, two colleges are working together to reorganize the biological sciences.

The biological sciences are reorganizing in the next year to improve on its “excellence in teaching and research”, said Steven Rodermel, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Rodermel said a committee was formed about a year and a half ago to discuss ways to build upon the excellence already present in teaching and research in the biological sciences.

To best suit its needs, the committee decided to reorganize into four departments, Rodermel said. The committee wanted groups that have similar views and methods and that would represent different worlds, he said.

There are five departments that are involved with the reorganization: Botany, zoology/genetics, biochemistry, microbiology and the recently formed Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management.

The four new departments are organized so people are grouped together with people who view the world the same way, Rodermel said, from the people who study molecular biology to the people who study large ecosystems.

He said bringing similar cultures together will help the departments effectively see how the field will go and this will make the departments more efficient

The committee looked at curricula, the number of majors to offer, how to get people in the same departments space in the same areas and distributing resources like greenhouses and office personnel, said Rodermel.

“We had old structures that were not optimally designed to take advantage of all the terrific opportunities that exist in biology today,” said Jonathan Wendel, chairman of the executive committee for the new Ecology, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology department.

The new structure is designed to be more flexible, responsive and integrate across old boundaries, Wendel said.

“Before, we had people separated in different departments and in different buildings doing the same thing,” he said. “This brings us more in-line with others around the country.”

The new departments unify a variety of diverse scientists, Wendel said.

The reorganization will benefit students because it is an opportunity to look at how the undergraduate curriculum is delivered, completely reevaluate what’s going on and get more experience-based learning to the students, he said.

Two of the new departments will act as “virtual departments,” Rodermel said.

Genetics, development and cell biology and ecology, evolutionary and organismal Biology have chairs appointed, but are not functioning as full departments yet.

Rodermel said everything will be fully operational by July 1, 2003.

The other two departments, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology and natural resources and ecology management, are already functional Rodermel said.