Microbiology

A Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Idaho will provide you with the skills you need to conduct research that leads to cures for diseases in plants, animals, and humans and to new solutions for the treatment of toxic waste. You'll learn about the microbial world, including subcellular organization and function, life cycles, and cell division.

According to some estimates, less than 1 percent of all microbe species on Earth have been studied—leaving so much more to explore.

Learn fundamental laboratory skills like breaking apart a microbe, identifying microbes from a disease culture and manipulating microbial growth. Observe and collect information about microbes as they change and interact with each other and the environment.

Senior year, you will draw on everything you’ve learned when you design and carry out your own research project. You will receive guidance from a professor and present your findings at a poster competition.

Learn from faculty members who actively conduct research on the use of microbes in food and dairy manufacturing and to clean contaminated soil and water. Since 2000, our department has received $60 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and private funding agencies to study infectious diseases caused by microorganisms and conduct other basic laboratory research.

We encourage our students to complete an internship the summer between their junior and senior years. They work for food manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and research laboratories.

Prepare for Success

This major is a good fit if you can see yourself:

• Exploring a world too small for your eyes to see.
• Studying math and science.
• Experimenting with microbes in state-of-the-art laboratories.

• Take as many science and math courses as possible.
• Explore the world through a microscope.
• Pay attention to current news involving disease and medicine.

Your First Year

Your first year, you will hone your communication skills with course work in writing. You will also take chemistry, calculus and introductory courses to microbiology.

More advanced major courses include organic chemistry, physics, genetics, and advanced microbiology.

See the four-year plan.

What You Can Do

With this degree, you may become one of the following:

• Medical researcher: Study the role of microbes in human illness. Design and synthesize new drugs and delivery systems. Study how drugs affect their microbial targets.
• Virologist: Shed light on biological viruses and virus-like agents, including their structure, their classification and evolution, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their potential uses in research and therapy.
• Industrial microbiologist: Contribute to industrial processes—such as food processing and waste handling—by monitoring microbes in activities such as fermentation and wastewater treatment.
• Environmental microbiologist: Contribute to the understanding of the function and diversity of microbes in the natural environment. Work on bioremediation projects in soil, groundwater and open oceans.

Opportunities

Demand for our graduates is high. Work for biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies or for the food and agricultural industry. Conduct research in university, industry, or government laboratories. Salaries start as high as $50,000.

You may also choose to continue your education. Many of our graduates go on to medical, nursing, dental, pharmacy or veterinary schools or earn advanced degrees in medical technology or microbiology.

Current Research

Do research. Conduct lab procedures and collect findings for pay or credit in an on-campus laboratory. You might help identify cattle management practices that keep E. coli 0157:H7 out of food, develop reactors for microbial degradation of TNT, or study how the composition of microbes in the human intestine influences a person’s susceptibility to disease.

Activities

Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry (MMBB) Club: Teach lab techniques to school children, learn about internships and meet experts in the field. Take trips to biotech companies, laboratories, breweries, wineries, research centers and hot springs.
Pre-vet Club: Meet other students planning for vet school and volunteer at a horse sanctuary 
University of Idaho Environmental Club: See what you and others can do to live more sustainably.

Hands-On Experience

Intern. Get practical work experiences in environments such as these:

• Dairy: Learn how packaging prevents microbial growth.
• Pharmaceutical company: Analyze how a vaccine affects microbial pathogens.
• Environmental Protection Agency: Study the effects of fungi on plant health.

Study abroad. Deepen your understanding of your major —and the world—in countries like these:

• Spain: Take science classes in Spanish.
• Switzerland: Observe a different health care system.
• Mexico: Study how disease is managed in rural villages.

Volunteer. Give back and gain new experiences. Assist hospital medical staff as they care for patients. Treat sick pets at a veterinary clinic. Work at a clinic in a developing country.