James Orr need only stand in his lecture class at 2023 Haworth Hall to verify growing fascination among students in biological sciences.

Ten years ago, there were 200 students in his Fundamentals of Biology course at Kansas University. Head count now is closer to 400, and rising.

JAMES ORR, professor of molecular science and chairman of Kansas University's division of biology, has seen growth in all of KU's biological programs.

“It’s pretty clear, there’s more interest in biology,” said Orr, professor of molecular science and chairman of the division of biology. “Students find it’s an area where there will be economic growth.”

Biology is the most popular major at KU with more than 1,300 students. Based on the most recent enrollment statistics, the major was ranked ahead of university degree programs in psychology, communications studies, English and political science.

Nationally, the quest for cutting-edge science careers is drawing more college students to biology. U.S. degree programs do more than produce young minds savvy enough to become future physicians.

Expanding interest in biological sciences is like the opening of an exotic flower with many-colored petals. That’s because biology graduates are going into careers in agriculture, law, marketing, computers and environmental policy, as well as a widening web of research fields.

They can imagine working in a pharmaceutical lab developing a new vaccine. Or using research skills creating a new strain of seed corn. Or working at an FBI serology lab helping identify crime suspects. Or a career at a zoo, in the forest service or at sea testing for pollutants.

“There are a lot more opportunities in biology than there were 20 years ago,” Orr said. “People do use it as a jumping-off point for careers.”

Variety of programs

KU undergraduates can select from a wide range of programs basic biology, biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, human biology, microbiology, organismal biology, botany, entomology and biodiversity, ecology and evolutionary biology.

“We’ve seen growth in all,” Orr said.

He said biological science majors had benefited from the monumental effort to map the human genome. Put simply, scientists are on the way to identifying all human genes. The effort has interesting possibilities for budding scientists, especially those with a biology background.

Potential applications include customized medicines, improved agricultural products, new energy resources and tools for environmental cleanup. Spinoff businesses, and advanced-technology jobs, are expected to crop up in coming years.

“That’s very exciting,” said Orr, who concentrates his research on neural controls of the heart and lungs.

This ride by biological science majors toward personally and financially rewarding careers isn’t likely to slow down for at least a few years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics had estimated employment for biological and medical scientists would increase by at least 36 percent in the decade ending in 2005.

Technology improvements

Over the past five years, the amount of research funding awarded to the KU biological sciences division has topped $50 million.

In fisca year 2001, the division took in $7 million in research grants. That’s nearly a two-fold increase from a decade ago.

Much of that money is used to advance scientific inquiry. But the university also is investing in classroom technology.

To meet growing academic demands at KU, Orr said, the division has used the university’s instructional technology fund has permitted acquisition of microscopes of exceptional optical quality, computer-driven data collection devices for physiology labs and better equipment for preparing lab materials.

Students have responded by doing exceptionally well in the classroom.

Here are a two examples:

Genetics major Sean P. Gordon was one of two 2001 KU graduates to receive a Fulbright Award for study and research abroad. He went to Goettingen, Germany, to study in a new international molecular biology program.

Karrigan B a May graduate in biology, was awarded a Truman Scholarship given nationally to students planning public service careers.

Orr said that to develop future generations of stellar students, changes had to be made on campus.

A new science academic building would be a welcome addition to the university’s landscape, he said. A plan to develop such a structure was put forward in the 1990s, but the initiative withered on the vine for lack of state funding.

“It’s waiting out there for somebody to endow,” Orr said. “That would be a significant boost for our program.”

Orr said the onslaught of students had led the university to revamp its operations.

“We have labs into the evening, and we’re hiring more temporary instructors,” he said. “We’re also teaching bigger classes.”

In the future, Orr said biological sciences at KU would benefit from recruitment of more full-time faculty. That would reduce the size of lecture classes and allow the division to expand course offerings.

But hiring more faculty isn’t as easy as convincing a bright, young scholar to come to Lawrence. It takes a great deal of money to offer competitive salaries and to outfit a scientist’s laboratory.

“It’s all about money,” Orr said, “because it could cost $250,000 to outfit a new faculty member’s lab.”

He said the other top priority would be to expand opportunities for undergraduate students to work on research projects on campus and on internships.

“Students are right to want more than a lecture or a standard lab class,” he said. “They want applied experience … to make that solid link between lab and lecture.”