Biology 985 Syllabus

                                   

Fall 2005

 

Title:   EEB (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)  Journal Discussion Group.

Time:  Meets once per week, from 4-5 pm.

Place: 705 Rieveschl Hall.

 

Instructors:

            Ken Petren, 802 Rieveschl; 6-9736; ken.petren@uc.edu

            Mike Polak, 724Rieveschl; 6-9736; polakm@email.uc.edu
 


General course description:

This class will meet once per week for one hour to discuss papers from the recent or classical literature. Each quarter will have a central theme and discussion papers will be chosen by students with the approval of one of the instructors.  Students registered for the course will be expected to participate in discussion by preparing questions and comments prior to each meeting. Students not registered for the class, and faculty within and outside our department will be encouraged to attend.  This class may not be offered every quarter.

 

Expectations

Students will choose papers and lead the discussion at least once per quarter and will be encouraged to provoke discussion with questions instead of developing presentations (limited to 1-2 graphics per meeting).  We will adhere to university regulations regarding ethical conduct and plagiarism, although we do not expect such issues to arise in this course.

 

Graduate Program fulfillments

The Department of Biological Sciences has approved this course for one credit. This course fulfills one of the required topics seminars.  As of now, a student may only count this course toward one of the two topics courses required for degree fulfillment.

 

Grading

Grading will be pass/fail and will be based on attendance, participation and effective leadership of discussions. Students missing more than two meetings, or with more than one unexcused absence will receive a failing grade.

 

Topics:

Fall 2005 theme:  Behavior Genetics.

We will read a series of papers touching on the theme of the link between animal behavior and genetics.  Numerous topics will be discussed, including:

 

á      Quantitative trait locus (QTL) approaches

á      Quantifying heritability in the field and in the lab

á      Genomic approaches to reveal loci implicated in behavioral traits

á      Epistasis, pleiotropy and links between genotype and phenotype

á      Evolution of complex behavior

á      Social system evolution

á      The genetic basis of (and complications raised by)  learning or imprinting