Student Organizations

Get Involved, Serve, and Lead

At Valpo, biology students build friendships and gain real-world experience through student-led clubs and service activities. Whether you’re restoring local habitats, organizing campus events, or exploring careers in medicine, there are plenty of ways to connect your interests with meaningful experiences.

First Things First

Let’s Explore

Research

Internships

Learning in the Community

Lab & Field Skills

Student Organizations

Biology Department

Student Organization at a Glance

Biology Club

Valpo’s Biology Club meets monthly and hosts social activities as well as opportunities for students to serve together. To learn more, please email the Biology Club faculty advisors, Dr. Bugajski () and Dr. Nunnelly ().

Connect

Biology Club brings together people who are interested in life. The club hosts picnics, parties, trips to the dunes, movie screenings, and sometimes even opportunities to go fly fishing. Participants get to know other science enthusiasts, make new friends, and connect their studies with life beyond the classroom.

Serve

The club’s slogan is “putting biology into service!” Members often spend time together outdoors working to maintain and restore Indiana’s natural environment. 2022-2023 service opportunities included:

Raising Galerucella spp. beetles to release at the Indiana Dunes in an effort to control the levels of an abundant invasive plant species (the purple loosestrife)
Performing field research with companies such as the Pinney Purdue Agricultural Center (2021 field work shown to the right!)
Setting up a haunted biology lab for the family-friendly VU “Haunted Labs” event
Fundraising for World Malaria Day to donate protective mosquito nets to at-risk communities
Participating in stream restorations

Lead

The Biology Club is led by students, and all members are welcome to suggest and assist with club activities. Executive board members take on additional responsibility. The club holds leadership elections at the end of each spring semester. The 2023-2024 Biology Club E-Board officers are:

President – Grace Peterson
Vice President – Simranjit Kaur
Secretary – Arturo Baranda
Treasurer – Lanna Sirhan
Webmaster – Abby Boyle
Historian – Gavin Tabor
Faculty Advisors – Drs. Bugajski and Orozco-Nunnelly (as pictured here during the 2021 field research event!)

Pre-Medical Arts Club

Pre-Med Club is open to students from many majors who are interested in medicine and public health. Members get many opportunities to have fun, serve the community, and learn more about allied health professions. Their events include: