<p>With spring registration under way, a new major is expected to be the fastest growing and the most popular undergraduate field of study. </p>
<p>Continue to 2nd paragraph Students now have an option to major in biology, which is offered through both the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, as of Summer B 2007.</p>
<p>Right now the major has over 1,500 students, said Dr. Walter Judd, a botany professor. Clearly, it's popular and serving a need.</p>
<p>I think biology is going to be the wave of the future, said Dr. Margaret Fields, director of the biological sciences and assistant dean for research and development at the CLAS. I think that this particular major is going to open the doors for the students who have the interest in a wide variety of the biological sciences.</p>
<p>Fields said that since summer, about 400 incoming freshmen have declared biology as their major, and about 800 students who were in the Interdisciplinary Studies program for biology transferred to the new major.</p>
<p>Elaine Turner, associate dean of CALS said that a primary motivation to choose this major was continued growth and discoveries in the biological sciences and the recognition that incoming freshmen are more likely to be seeking a general biology curriculum.</p>
<p>Many students have expressed an interest in a biology major, Fields said. They were either pre-med, pre-dental, pre-vet med or wanted to be biology teachers.</p>
<p>UF is a flagship university, she said. Until this year, it was the only college in the state university system without a biology degree.</p>
<p>New</a> major to be UF's biggest - News - GainesvilleSun.com</p>