Episode 72: Academic Disciplines, Sciences and Mathematics

Episode 72

• Episode 72 Transcript

  [INTRO]

  [00:00:06] BHA: There are so many important choices you'll make in college: which hall to live in, what to eat, how many extracurriculars to join. But most crucial is the decision of what you'll study.

  [00:00:19] BT: At many schools, you'll have until your second year to declare a major. But it's never too early to start thinking about what you want to pursue. I'm Brooke Thames from Bucknell University.

  [00:00:29] HM: And I'm Becca Haupt Aldredge, also from Bucknell. For the next little while on College Admissions Insider, we'll be doing a deep dive into academic disciplines one episode at a time. This episode is dedicated to the sciences and mathematics.

  [00:00:45] BT: We'll get to know the kinds of majors available in these disciplines, what math and science studies look like in college, and the careers you can break into post-graduation.

  [00:00:53] BHA: Our guest is Le Paliulis, associate dean of faculty for Bucknell's College of Arts & Sciences and professor of biology. Welcome to the podcast.

  [00:01:01] LP: Thank you. I'm really excited to talk with you.

  [00:01:04] BT: We are excited to have you here.

  [00:01:06] BHA: Can we start by hearing a little bit more about you and what that big title means [inaudible 00:01:09]?

  [00:01:11] LP: Yes. So I am the associate dean of faculty for the natural sciences and mathematics. What I do in that role is support departments in natural sciences and mathematics and act as a bridge between the faculty—your professors in the departments — and the administration of the College of Arts & Sciences. I'm also, as you said, a professor in the biology department.

  [00:01:37] BHA: I'm sure most high school students listening have been exposed to biology and chemistry, maybe even physics. But that's just scratching the surface of the kinds of science majors that are offered in college. Can you give us a brief overview of the sciences at a school like Bucknell?

  [00:01:52] LP: Sure. So one of the amazing things about colleges and universities is that students can focus on fields like biology, chemistry, physics, math and earth science, which are typically offered in high schools but can also go beyond those fields in many different ways. Here at Bucknell, we offer majors as well in animal behavior, biology, biophysics, cell biology/biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, environmental geosciences, environmental science, geology, mathematics, neuroscience and physics.

  [00:02:31] BT: That's a big list of majors and different disciplines that you can study. For me, someone who's more on the writing side and less on the science side, neuroscience sounds a whole lot different than environmental science. Are there categories within the sciences that group certain lines of study together? Or are they all interconnected?

  [00:02:52] LP: So many of the majors that I just listed in that very long list are actually interdisciplinary. For example, neuroscience is a major that heavily incorporates material from biology and psychology, in addition to a number of other fields like linguistics. Animal behavior also combines the study of biology and psychology but in different ways than you might see in a neuroscience major. Cell biology biochemistry combines the study of biology and chemistry, while biophysics combines biology and physics. Environmental science is also interdisciplinary and combines material from all of the natural sciences.

  [00:03:34] BHA: So what type of student would be well-suited for one of these science majors? Are there particular skills that they would bring to the table that maybe they've honed in on throughout high school or curiosities that they have?

  [00:03:46] LP: Well, what I would say is that the most important things for people who want to major in these areas are that they be curious about the world — and this really holds for any major in the sciences — and that they be enthusiastic about learning in those areas. So I would say that those are the main critically important things.

  Now, preparing in high school, if you know what you want…which when I was in high school, I'll tell you, I made my career decision at the age of 16, which nobody does — but I did. So I already knew, "All right, I better have preparation in math. I probably will benefit from having taken calculus in high school," and so I did. And I thought about the other things that I might need to know for the thing that I'm really interested in. The thing I was really interested in was biology. So I took biology, I took chemistry, I took physics and I took a bunch of math, in addition to everything else.

  Now, if you know that you really, really want to be a scientist, having a broad background in a number of different areas is always beneficial. So kind of having some exposure to different areas of science and math will only help you for your future. That said, I would also say that your curiosity should not narrow your focus so much that you are unwilling to have any exposure to anything but science and math. Because having that broad-based knowledge of all areas is also really beneficial for a person who's going into a biology course or a math course or a physics course. So I think what I'd say is, in high school, learn as much as you can.

  [00:05:56] BHA: I think that's such a beautiful answer, Le, and it really speaks to both the liberal arts and the interdisciplinary nature of the things that we do here and that need for that curiosity coming into college. So speaking of Bucknell as a liberal arts university, I know that that makes our science offering slightly different than schools that might focus heavily on pre-professional programs. I'm thinking things like premed or physical therapy, et cetera. Can you tell us why liberal arts colleges are not quite the same?

  [00:06:29] LP: Yes. So at schools that aren't kind of the small liberal arts college, many different schools will offer pre-professional majors like premed or pre-physician assistant. These majors focus very specifically on preparing students to start their professional program after graduation from undergrad. At Bucknell, we absolutely do prepare students to go on to professional program programs if they wish to do so. However, our curriculum has a much broader topical coverage than a typical premed or pre-PA major would.

  For example, a student that completes a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology can easily complete all of the requirements for admission to medical school so that they can enroll in medical school immediately after graduation. They will take the required biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics courses that are prerequisites for medical school. But they will also explore much more than is required for medical school. Within their major, they'll learn critical concepts of biology that go well beyond what is required to understand human health. They'll also learn how to think like a scientist, critically questioning how the world works. Beyond that, our general education curriculum is an outstanding opportunity to explore subject areas well beyond the sciences that have the potential to enrich students' lives well beyond college and outside of the workday.

  [00:08:05] BT: So medicine is one area that a student who majors in the sciences might pursue. But what other kinds of careers are open?

  [00:08:15] LP: There are infinite possibilities. Graduates can work in industrial, clinical, academic, and many other settings. A degree from a liberal arts college in the sciences places a graduate ideally for a position as a consultant or as a researcher in a biotech or chemical technology company. Students with coding experience can take positions in tech companies. Students can continue their education in professional programs or by getting a graduate degree and moving on to work at an academic institution just like Bucknell.

  People can support all areas of research, can teach in elementary or high school, can work in zoos and museums, delve into green energy, become bioinformaticians, work in a clinical setting, design optical tools, become a meteorologist, go into patent law or any number of other types of careers. One former biology graduate here who I remember very well went into film production after graduating with a major in biology. So the world is totally open after finishing a science degree from a place like Buckell.

  [00:09:29] BHA: Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about the mathematics side. Can you give us a little bit of an overview of those majors?

  [00:09:35] LP: Absolutely. The math department offers majors in mathematics, applied mathematical sciences and statistics. There's also an interdisiplinary major in mathematical economics.

  [00:09:48] BT: Similar to the question we asked before about what kinds of students might have an affinity for the sciences and the skills that are involved, what about mathematics?

  [00:09:57] LP: Well, what I would say about math is that getting some experience with math in high school is extremely beneficial. Do you like sitting and working problems? I remember in high school, absolutely loving this. I would stay up late sitting on the recliner in the living room and work calculus problems. I thought it was the funnest thing ever. But there are some people who don't find it fun or who think they might find it fun but also find it really challenging. For those people, I think more experience is always better. So dip your toe in. Take a statistics class. Take a Calculus class. Take an algebra class. See if it's fun for you.

  As with sciences, the more experience, the more exposure, the more exploration you've done in an area, the more you'll know about what you want to do in the future.

  [00:10:58] BT: What kind of careers are possible for mathematicians?

  [00:11:01] LP: There are so many possibilities, and I'm only going to give you a short list here, but there are many more. So math graduates can absolutely become math teachers. You yourself, all of you listening, have met math teachers. You've met people in math careers. People can be actuaries, data scientists, statisticians, analysts. This is a short list among a wide variety of other career options.

  [00:11:28] BT: I'm sure those careers span so many different industries. Everyone in a professional setting needs somebody who can run numbers.

  [00:11:34] LP: Absolutely. Insurance, right? I can totally see how the Foreign Service, the CIA is probably hiring mathematicians. Just such a huge range of areas, including the sciences, right? It's not just science and math that use math.

  [00:11:54] BHA: That's a perfect segue, Le. Let's talk about the overlap between the mathematics and the sciences. Would a student in one discipline take courses in the other?

  [00:12:04] LP: There is a huge overlap between mathematics and the sciences. All majors in the natural sciences at Bucknell require a completion of at least one math class. The ability to think quantitatively is a critical skill for most careers in the sciences, and students obtain that critical skill in their math classes.

  [00:12:27] BT: Whether you plan to major in sciences or mathematics or both, research is a very big aspect of both of those lines of study, and it plays a pretty significant role in the college search for many students. So how can students figure out what resources are available to them for research at the different schools they're looking at?

  [00:12:46] LP: So research is an amazing opportunity to explore the unknown. If a person is interested in doing research, they should ask the colleges and universities they are applying to which research opportunities are available for undergraduates. This is one area that can set a primarily undergraduate institution like Bucknell apart from a large research institution. While there are a large number of research labs present at a large research institution, quite often it is difficult for undergraduates to find opportunities to do supervised research.

  At a place like Bucknell, research with undergraduates is prioritized. Our labs and the field, research sites are environments where undergraduates are welcome and participate fully in exploration, while being mentored by a faculty member.

  [00:13:45] BHA: What I've heard so far is that there's so much breadth and depth to the natural sciences and mathematics here at Bucknell and so many ways that those can overlap and intersect and complement each other really nicely and prepare students for meaningful careers in a variety of areas.

  So to wrap up, I would love to hear from you about why a student should consider studying science or math in college.

  [00:14:09] LP: So science and math are fields of exploration, and they are your prime opportunity to explore the unknown. So they're exciting areas of study where it's possible not only to learn what is known, what has been known for a long time, but also to make brand new discoveries, to learn things that nobody has ever learned before, to see things that nobody on the planet has ever seen, and to just explore the unknown. It's so, so exciting.

  [00:14:47] BT: The world is still full of mysteries. Scientists and mathematicians are making headlines every single day. Thank you, Le, for joining us for this wonderful conversation.

  [00:14:57] LP: Thank you. This was a really fun conversation.

  [00:15:00] BHA: Thanks for everyone out there listening. If you're a fan of the podcast, please take a moment to rate, subscribe and share this episode with the students and families in your life.

  [00:15:10] BT: We'll be back with another episode in a few weeks. In the meantime, send your questions, comments, and episode ideas to podcast@bucknell.edu. We read every note you send.

  [00:15:19] BHA: Finally, you're invited to follow Bucknell on your favorite social media apps. Just look for @bucknellu on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok. You can also follow our student-run Instagram account, which is @iamraybucknell.

  [00:15:34] BT: Until next time, keep on reaching for your dream and your dream school.

  [END]