Nestled in the Rio Grande Valley, The University of New Mexico is the flagship university of the State of New Mexico. Boasting a student population of about 30,000, UNM embraces its diverse heritage and reflects its cultural variety: recently, UNM was recognized as one of the few Research I institutions in the nation that also has a minority–majority student dynamic. The parent city of Albuquerque is centrally located in the state. This location allows easy access to the mountains, streams, deserts and plains of New Mexico, offering many wonderful research and leisure opportunities.

The Biology Program has 39 tenure-track faculty, including a National Academy member, a MacArthur Fellow, and three Guggenheim award recipients. UNM's research is featured regularly in Science and Nature, and covers the gamut of modern biology: from cellular and molecular biology, through ecology and evolutionary biology, to interdisciplinary or computational ventures with the Departments of Mathematics & Statistics, Computer Science, Chemistry, and the Health Sciences Center. The research problems investigated vary from theoretical through computational to applied. Many faculty focus their research in New Mexico and the Southwest, while others explore Mexico, Antarctica, Australia and Africa. UNM also conducts laboratory-based studies of model organisms, like yeast, C. elegans and Drosophila, and of non-traditional organisms such as marsupials, molluscs and parasites.