Students graduating from two Kwantlen Polytechnic University biology programs can now add a professional accreditation to their resumes.
The B.C. College of Applied Biology has accredited the bachelor of science major in biology and the bachelor of science (honours) major in biology at KPU. This means that a student graduating from these programs can now add the accreditation to their resumes as a Biologist in Training right after graduation or Registered Professional Biologist (RPBio) with more than three years of work experience.
“These credentials are very useful for obtaining jobs in biology-related fields such as environmental consulting, government-affiliated ecology positions such as wildlife and fisheries management, aquariums and research facilities, and more,” says Layne Myhre, co-chair in the department of biology at KPU.
“In some industries, such as environmental consulting, this sort of credential is generally required for employment.”
To receive the accreditation, students need to be graduates of the program, take the mandatory ethics training, and pay a registration fee.
“There are only a handful of post-secondary institutions in BC whose biology programs are accredited by the college, so this is very prestigious for KPU and demonstrates the value of our programs for students interested in careers in applied biology,” says Brett Favaro, dean of the Faculty of Science at KPU. He also holds a RPBio designation.