Aug 19 - first day of class The slides for today's class are HERE.
reading for next class: (1) read this article about human traits and classification (link working?), (2) from the Concepts of Biology textbook, read chapters 1, 6/6.1, 7/7.1, and 8 - yes, a lot! Collectively, these readings are an overview of what we will cover this first unit in more detail.
biologist of the day: Rachel Carson
organism of the day: KELP
Aug 24 - day 2, slides are HERE
reading for next class: make sure reading from last time, plus chapter 9 - here focus on understanding that information is heritable, less about minute details like e.g. helicase and replication forks
Answer-o-Rama quiz of the day is linked here: https://forms.gle/AuofjCNF9L2GmEiz8
biologist of the day: Rosalind Franklin
organism of the day: bottlenose dolphins (and here is the link I promised about their evolved lack of tolerance to manmade pesticides)
Aug 26 quiz 1 - on eLC, covers the syllabus as well as reading material so far. For day 3, the presentation slides are HERE
reading for next class: (1) read this article from the "primary" biology literature exploring how organisms respond differently to the environment depending on where they are from; (2) chapter 4 from your textbook, and chapter 16intro/16.1/16.4
Answer-o-Rama question of the day is linked here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1__6emXPiL3TOF_clUZ_e2c4fsQJyiookE-6mNWynIMs (sorry wasn't before class)
biologist of the day: Dr. Shane Campbell-Staton
organism of the day: freshwater mussels
Aug 31 - we will discuss in small groups the article on testing cold tolerance in copepods as part of our class interaction today. I suspect we will be playing catch-up with material as well. For day 4, the presentation slides are HERE and please be prepared for that discussion!
reading for next class: read Chapter 5 (photosynthesis) from your textbook and this comic covering photosynthesis by Jay Hosler that will likely be more memorable!
biologist of the day: Dr. Rytas Vilgalys
organism of the day: chanterelle mushrooms
Sep 2 quiz 2 - today we will focus on photosynthesis! the slides for day 5 will be posted HERE (transcript of 'organism of the day' video is HERE)
for next week you should read Chapter 11 in your textbook on the basics of organismal evolution
biologist of the day: Dr. Natalia Bayona-Vasquez
organism of the day: corals - and if you have time, you would probably appreciate this film Chasing Coral (though it is not happy, it is beautiful); oh wait, the organism of the day was freshwater prawns oh well you can hopefully appreciate both :)
Sep 7 don't forget your m&m's data - slides for day 6 are HERE
for Thursday, take the time to finish your first UNIT project and start preparing for the exam in one week!
Please add your m&m's data to this form: shorturl.at/xHPX6 [[not working?? try: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VIwVJhBPnodaVc57VUc4fAAiLKDPOM44sUHn1K2mlb8/edit?usp=sharing ]]
Answer-o-Rama question 1: https://forms.gle/dTLYXAhtfRowhdnR8
biologist of the day: Dr. Jay Hosler
organism of the day: chitons
Sep 9 quiz 3, PROJECT 1 due by end of day :) and the slides for day 7 are HERE
use the weekend for exam prep! yes, the reading AND the lecture material are fair game. focus on big picture!
biologist of the day: Dr. Scott Edwards
organism of the day: the humble opossum
(exam 1 from 2019 is posted here to give you a sense of questions I have asked in the past, but material is somewhat different this year). Exam lasts 50 minutes, start promptly!!
group exam response info coming
for Thursday read Chapter 12 in your text
no quiz on Thursday!
Sep 16 - no quiz, as noted you should have read Chapter 12 from the free text. Slides for Lecture 8 are HERE
for next Tuesday, read Chapter 13, and finish group exam response by Friday at 12pm
biologist of the day: Dr. Jane Lubchenco
organism of the day: elephants - you can all google what you don't know about elephants, so here is a little sweet video with one listening to a piano
Sep 21 - we will finish phylogeny inference and why it is useful as a model of understanding biodiversity. Lecture 9: SLIDES
for Thursday, prep for quiz and be sure you've read Chapter 13
biologist of the day: Dr. Todd Oakley
organism of the day: fireflies
Sep 23 quiz 4 - today we talk microbial diversity, so that you can casually call somebody a 'prokaryote' when they cut you off at an intersection. Lecture 10: SLIDES HERE
for Tuesday, we will read our primary lit for the unit: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0038550 . (Dr. Bik is now faculty in Marine Sciences at UGA!) We will discuss on Tuesday - think about how much biodiversity is "micro" on this planet and how we discover it as you read this relatively short paper
biologist of the day: Dr. Paul Turner
organism of the day: Burkholderia gladioli, a bacteria that is known for infecting Gladiolus plants.... and for being able to digest pure petroleum oil as a carbon source.
Sep 28 - protists, and biological scale and what it means for movement each generation. Lecture 11: HERE
for Thursday, read Chapter 14 on plants as well as this short article on phytoplankton and prep for Quiz. It will cover Chapters 13 and 14 as well as some information from the article.
biologist of the day: Sinead Collins, University of Edinburgh
organism of the day: turtles!
Sep 30 quiz 5. - plants grow on you! Lecture 12: HERE
for Tuesday, read Chapter 13 (again) on the Fungi, and listen to this episode of Radiolab. (transcript HERE). Sorry, also read THIS. And watch THIS. Some day you will thank me for a little extra material about fungi.
biologist of the day: Dr. Gina Baucom, University of Michigan
organism of the day: the beautiful rose
Oct 5 - fungi, fantastic fungi. Lecture 13: HERE
for Thursday, read Chapter 15 of your text and prep for quiz!
biologist of the day: Dr. Anne Pringle
Oct 7 quiz 6, group PROJECT 2 due - animals, finally.... Lecture 14: HERE
for Tuesday, prep for exam
biologist of the day: Dr. Geerat Vermeij
organism of the day: jellies
no quiz on Thursday October 14
for Thursday, read: no assigned reading
Oct 14 no quiz, we start the Ecology unit - slides for Oct 15 are HERE
for Tuesday, read Chapter 19 from your text
biologist of the day: Dr. Jessica Ware
organism of the day: cottonwood trees
Answer-o-Rama question today: https://forms.gle/5Lj664UWcnLp5bqJ7
Oct 19 for Thursday, prep for quiz and read this segment from the book Spillover by David Quammen - slides for today are HERE
biologist of the day: Dr. Gretchen Hoffmann
organism of the day: the Jōro spider!
Oct 21 quiz 7 for Tuesday, read Chapter 20 and the primary lit paper of the unit, the slides are HERE
biologist of the day: Prof. Robert Paine
Oct 26 we will discuss the Wenger et al. paper in class, the slides for today are HERE
for Thursday prep for quiz, read Chapter 21 from your text (also on quiz)
biologist of the day: Dr. John Carlos Garza
organism of the day: mayflies
Oct 28 quiz 8, slides are HERE
note next week: 🔥pay attention to eLC announcements - and pay attention to changes below starting next week!
biologist of the day: Dr. Rebekah Rogers
organism of the day: pumpkins!
before Exam 3, I'd like you to watch this short film and read this very short piece by my colleague Dr. Emily Carrington (link is broken, I cannot find the original source!) so you can get a greater sense of how climate and nutrients and patterns in ecology all come together.
There is a quiz due on Thursday that will cover all of the reading for this unit!
Nov 4 slides are HERE... (group project #3 due on Friday Nov 12th)
organism of the day: Oncorhynchus gilae
biologist of the day: Dr. Brian Helmuth
for weekend: prep for exam, re-read chapters and re-evaluate our class interactions
today's recording is linked HERE.
Nov 9 NO CLASS - Dr. Wares is in Albany identifying mussels with ASU students and the Flint Riverquarium.
Information will show up soon about the re-take exam, don't forget your Unit 3 project due November 12.
Over the weekend, we will start off with the primary lit for the unit: owls evolving as the climate changes, also re-read Chapter 11 of your textbook to refresh on evolutionary mechanisms.
Nov 16 - we will discuss the owl adaptation paper and get our heads around climate response in other ways: how communities change interactions, and how populations respond. for Thursday read this review article on climate velocity. It is a bit long and technical - I don't expect you to know this in detail but it covers a lot of good information.
organism of the day: Anolis
biologist of the day: Dr. Morgan Kelly
prep for quiz - will cover the owls "primary lit" and Chapter 11, as well as the review article on climate velocity.
Nov 18 quiz 10 today! slides for today are HERE
organism of the day: zebrawing butterfly
biologist of the day: Dr. Rowan Lockwood
over the Thanksgiving week, well - see Nov. 23, but also read this article from the primary literature.
Nov 23 Thanksgiving week assignment: watch this 60-minute film "A Thousand Invisible Cords" this is an asynchronous assignment and yes you will be tested on information from this film :)
Nov 30 last day: slides for today are HERE
organism of the day: caddisflies
biologist of the day: Dr. Jill Anderson
prep for Exam 4 on THURSDAY!