Integrative Biology recognizes that biological systems interrelate and interact. Our faculty focus on understanding how diverse biological systems function in the broader context of the organism and its environment, as well as how environments interact with the organisms they support.   The composite intellectual framework is that a biological system, whether genetic, molecular, developmental, physiological, ecological or evolutionary, can best be understood by accounting for its interactions with other systems.   Students are woven into this intellectual framework through collaborations among overlapping groups of faculty. These groups share a common goal of decoding the complexity underlying biological systems.   In accordance with USC Policy ACAF 7.04 the following information is included: Department: Biological Sciences; Website Maintainer: Richard Vogt vogt@biol.sc.edu Copyright 2008 by the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina. This is <URL:http://www.biol.sc.edu/IB/index.html> last modified 28 September 2007