I Want to be a Pioneer
Several of our PUC biology graduates get accepted to professional schools and become doctors and dentists serving their communities.
Explore a wide range of fundamental biological questions whose answers will help us better understand the complexity of God’s living world.
Our students have gone on to the following graduate schools: Loma Linda University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Duke University, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oregon State University, Cal State East Bay, Midwestern University College of Veterinary Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Scott Butterfield, the Clark Professor of Conservation Technology is also a Senior Scientist at The Nature Conservancy where he has more than 20 years of experience developing and applying conservation technologies to some of the biggest environmental challenges we face in California and across the United States.
Faculty & student research takes place on campus, several locations in the Napa Valley and Northern California, Alaska, and international sites (Mexico, Fiji, Micronesia, and Honduras).
Brian Lee (’12) graduated from PUC with a degree in biology and used it to teach high school science and track gorillas in Rwanda, study forestry at Yale, and land a job predicting global deforestation for NASA.
Dr. Floyd Hayes, professor of biology, specializes in the ecology, behavior and biogeography of Neotropical birds. He has published more than 100 technical articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Dustin Baumbach (‘12) researches hawksbill sea turtles at California State University-San Bernardino. He has helped develop a mobile app for tourists, scuba divers, and other researchers to quickly and easily report hawksbill sightings, which contributes to turtle research.
The biology program is extremely engaging. From the Bioneers mentorship program to Albion trips and other excursions. These moments provide us with the opportunity to bond with our peers and faculty members. The professors truly care about our well-being and they enjoy getting to know us on a personal level. I chose PUC to pursue my passion in biology because of the size of the department. I knew there would be plenty of opportunities to participate while still maintaining a significant presence on campus.
- Drielly Martins
April 12, 2021
Students from Pacific Union College recently visited Howell Mountain Elementary School (HME), a local public school, to teach second and third grade students all about monarch butterflies and to get them hands-on in the learning process!
Students from Pacific Union College recently visited Howell Mountain Elementary School (HME), a local public school, to teach second and third grade students all about monarch butterflies and to get them hands-on in the learning process!
In fall 2017, Aimee Wyrick, chair of the department of biology at Pacific Union College, received a phone call from Nancy Lecourt, academic dean and vice president for academic administration. She invited Wyrick to meet her outside the Angwin Post Office.
It started as a conversation between senior biology majors one day during class. Aimee Wyrick, chair of the department of biology and the class’ professor, put down her lecture notes and looked each student in the eye.
For three months of the year, two small fields in the popular Napa Valley resort town of Calistoga blossom with tiny white flowers known as the Calistoga Popcorn Flower. These two fields are the only known location of this flower in the world, which explains its presence on the list of endangered plants.
Last school year, Pacific Union College English and pre-med major Laurel Kwon and fellow honors student Jeff Richards worked together on a project. They visited Foothills Elementary School just a few minutes from campus and demonstrated some chemistry experiments.
The workshop has been taking place for over 50 years, but has recently been overhauled based on feedback from teachers and students.
