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The study of biology has been transformed by the development of molecular genetic techniques. Molecular Ecology and Evolution is an intensive 4-week course that explores the application of modern molecular genetic techniques in the study of ecology, evolution, and population biology. Following a review of basic principles of molecular biology and genetics we examine how molecular genetic tools are applied to questions in biogeography, dispersal, mating systems, biological diversity, speciation, and conservation genetics, just to name a few. Lectures are complemented by laboratory exercises to provide hands on laboratory experience with molecular genetic techniques and modern computational analyses. The course culminates with students designing and executing a molecular ecology research project, independently or in small groups. Graduate students are particularly encouraged to use this course as an opportunity to develop methods and collect preliminary data for their thesis research, and undergraduates are encouraged to continue their project for Research Distinction.
As terrestrial vertebrates we often view the ocean as a homogeneous environment, yet it is a spatially and temporally dynamic environment that profoundly shapes the distribution of its inhabitants. This intensive 4-week course explores the physical and biological processes that control the density and distribution of marine organisms over space and time. The course begins by examining the role of geology and physical oceanography on creating and shaping marine environments. We then move to nutrient flow and primary production in coastal and planktonic marine communities. We then expand to focus on factors shaping macroscopic marine populations including competition and predation, marine larval dispersal, marine invasions, and will discuss the importance of these processes in the management of fisheries and general marine conservation. Lectures will be complimented by a combination of field and laboratory exercises. Through this course, students will learn about processes governing the densities and distributions of marine populations, including theoretical and methodological approaches for the study of the biology of marine populations, especially as they are related to dispersal and recruitment processes.
The Graduate Seminar is part of the academic program for all first-year MA and Ph.D. students in the BU Marine Program. The purpose of the year-long graduate seminar program is to broaden the scientific horizons of incoming graduate students while preparing them for a postgraduate career in science or science based policy. The format of the course varies, but usually consists of invited seminar speakers, panel discussions, grant writing/research exercises, and class discussion.