Borderless classrooms, endless opportunities

Life Sciences represents the full spectrum of experiential and classroom studies of the natural world.

Lab coats and goggles give way to waders and sunglasses. Many courses in VCU Life Sciences allow our students to immerse themselves in experiential learning. Whether it is navigating the whitewater rapids on the Salmon River, banding birds on top of a mountain in Panama or gathering water quality data down the road at VCU Rice Rivers Center, our pathway to an education in the life sciences takes students to the research.

It's not where you start, it's where you finish. 

Not every one of our graduates began their educational journey with VCU Life Sciences. Our students have joined us from community colleges, four-year universities, even other fields of study within VCU. Our alumni can be found working at places like NASA, NOAA, the Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health and the Army Corp of Engineers. Whether they are taking wildlife photos for National Geographic or tracking Atlantic Sturgeon in the James River, their paths led them through our hallways. Hands-on student opportunities often lead to top-tier jobs as alumni.

four scenes: a person standing on a pier overlooking a body of water, a v.c.u. student group posing outside in a mountainous area, students working in a lab, and a group of people whitewater rafting

News

Three people sit on a canoe in the water, one holding a bird

March 24, 2025

Applications are open for 2025 summer internships at VCU Rice Rivers Center

The annual Summer@Rice program provides ecological field experiences for students.

The new School of Life Sciences and Sustainability will administer and oversee biological, environmental, life and sustainability sciences academic programming, research and other relevant initiatives at VCU. (File photo)

March 24, 2025

VCU establishes School of Life Sciences and Sustainability

Emphasizing solutions-focused faculty collaboration and student learning, the new school in the College of Humanities and Sciences will combine VCU Life Sciences and the Department of Biology.

Conservation biologists capture the massive fish for monitoring purposes, which includes clipping a tiny part of its fin for DNA analysis. (Matt Balazik)

March 18, 2025

Dr. Matt Balazik is featured in The Washington Post

The guest column explains the use archaeology, history and ecology to describe the decline of Atlantic sturgeon.