Biological Honors Society

Meet other people who share your love of biology.

On our campus, our biology club is actually a chapter within the national biology honors society (the Iota Rho chapter of Beta Beta Beta, affectionately known as "Tri-Beta"). Tri-Beta welcomes all students as members, although full membership students must meet the national criteria for the honor society. All others may be associate members on the national level, or participate simply as local members. 

This year's slate of officers are:

The chapter's main function is to celebrate the study of biology and foster biological research, and to have fun doing it!

Develop yourself as a young professional.

The Biology Club is an incredible resource for mentoring those beginning to major in Biology. Seniors and juniors help their peers decide upon majors/minors, how to find research and internship opportunities, pre-health and pre-graduate school preparation. There are seminars in the biology department which have been scheduled by Tri-Beta, and the chapter acts as host to many department visitors, including interviewing potential staff, when appropriate. 

In addition, the club has volunteered as ushers at Nobel Conferences, planned Arbor Day celebrations with the Chapel staff which included planting trees, assisted in various mapping of biological resources on campus, worked on river bank clean-up and participated in a number of open houses and receptions for students visiting Gustavus and who are interested in Biology. 

The Iota Rho chapter of Tri-Beta has hosted pizza parties, meet-the-profs nights, highway clean-up, holiday parties, and student-faculty trivia teams. Every year, the group also hosts the final biology picnic, known affectionately as the "Hotter than Hell" picnic because of the various pepper-laced dishes that are served.

Our organization and its history.

Beta Beta Beta National Biological Society was founded in 1922. The society is composed of Biology majors and persons with an interest in the biological sciences. The purpose of Tri-Beta as outlined in the national Charter is: 1) to promote scholarship in the biological sciences, 2) to promote the dissemination of biological knowledge, and 3) to encourage research. The regional convention is held every spring and the National Convention is held every other year, usually in June. This provides a forum for undergraduate research to be presented. The requirements for membership in Beta Beta Beta are: 1) full membership: at least two completed biology courses and a 3.0+ GPA in biology courses, 2) associate memberships: an interest in biological sciences. 

Local Chapter: The Iota Rho chapter of Beta Beta Beta dates back to 1977 when a group of students sought a national organization that focused on biology research, particularly at the undergraduate level. Since then, Gustavus students have been active in presentations of their research at both regional and national conventions.The local chapter at Gustavus is involved in a variety of social as well as academic activities. Department seminars, group meetings, and social dinners allow Biology students to interact with each other in addition to becoming better acquainted with faculty outside of the classroom.