Senior Thesis
Any senior OBE major may elect to undertake a senior thesis. A senior OBE major who completes a high quality senior thesis, presents it orally at OBE Day, and has a high grade point average will receive Graduation with Distinction. This honor will be recorded on the student's official transcript and noted on the commencement program at graduation. If a student meets the senior thesis and presentation requirements, but does not have a high enough GPA, s/he will not receive Graduation with Distinction, but the successful completion of the senior thesis requirements will become part of the student's official transcript under BE499 Senior Thesis.
CHECKLIST to graduate with distinction in Organismal Biology and Ecology
- Complete an OBE senior thesis with a grade of A- or above and
- From the courses taken for the OBE major, achieve a GPA of at least 3.7 for the 10 courses with the highest grades. If a student does not have seven or more grade track courses, e.g. is a transfer student or a student taking the MBL Semester in Ecosystem Science, a faculty member may nominate the student for consideration for distinction by a departmental vote.
The option of undertaking a senior thesis must be initiated by the student and approved by an OBE Department faculty member (primary research advisor), who will supervise the student's research and senior thesis. In addition, another faculty member (who may be in another CC department if the area of research falls under the other faculty member's area of expertise) must agree to act as a secondary advisor. The primary and secondary research advisors comprise the thesis committee. The thesis committee will