RESEARCH IN MARINE BIOLOGY:
BIOSM 413/ZOOL 751
dates: JULY 28 – AUGUST 18, 2008
credit hours: 6 semester credits
total cost: $5,652 (includes room, board and tuition)
Prerequisites: One year of college-level biology; additional experience in ecology or physiology recommended.
A hands-on course in which students explore the marine environment around Appledore Island via field and laboratory experiments of their own design. This course is unique in that students learn practical skills that are required of all biologists, such as generating hypotheses, experimental design, data collection, statistical analysis, group decision-making, writing scientific papers, and communicating results to others. The class will work together on several experiments inspired by student observations, primary literature, lectures, and data collected by previous classes. Phenomena investigated in previous years include: predator-prey interactions, vertical migration in zooplankton, biomechanical design, foraging behavior, photosynthesis, and adaptation to intertidal stressors such as desiccation, temperature, and wave action. Students will gain practical experience with laboratory, field, and remote sensing equipment, and may work with a diverse range of marine organisms including vertebrates, invertebrates and algae. Each student will take responsibility for writing up the results from one experiment and will present the results in a scientific symposium at the end of the course. This course is highly recommended for undergraduates interested in independent research or considering graduate education in biology, as well as science educators seeking experience in inquiry-based learning.
Faculty:
Dr. Dennis Taylor,
Hiram College
Dr. Doug Fudge,
University of Guelph
Dr. Anne Todgham, Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara
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