Ecophysiology of Global Change, Biology 353/453
Fall Semester

Global change is an emerging threat to human health and economic stability. Rapid changes in climate, land use, and prevalence of non-native species generate novel conditions outside the range of typical conditions under which organisms evolved. Already we are witnessing the global redistribution of plants and animals, changes in the timing of critical life cycle events, and in some cases local extinction of populations. This course explores the impacts of global change on biological systems at levels from individuals to ecosystems; among animals, plants and microbes; across ecological to evolutionary timescales; and from local to global spatial scales. Throughout, physiology is emphasized as a core driver of biological responses to global change. Traditional lectures will be accompanied by discussions of primary literature articles. The laboratory component will involve the development of an independent project at the University Farm, and dissemination of results through traditional (e.g. written paper) and new (e.g. podcast) media. 

Pre-requisites: Undergraduate: BIOL 214 and 216; Graduate: graduate standing

3 credits; satisfies the lab requirement (for BA) or additional lab requirement (for BS); offered fall semesters

Quantitative Biology Laboratory, Biology 315/415
Spring Semester

This course aims to provide experience with the management, analysis, and presentation of biological data. This is a topics course, spanning simple linear regression, mixed effects modeling, model selection, spatial and phylogenetic correlation structures, principal components analysis, and structural equation modeling. Our emphasis here is on breadth rather than depth. The goal is to provide students with a basic statistical toolkit that can be expanded and adapted.

We will use the R Statistical Environment (note that no previous training in computer programming is required).

3 credits; satisfies the quantitative lab requirement; offered spring semesters