We live in a microbial world, and microbes have shaped (and continue to shape) plant and animal physiology and evolution through a myriad of contributions – from mutualistic benefits to disease. Recent advances in genomic methodologies have further increased our appreciation of such contributions by highlighting the prevalence of organismal microbial communities and their complex interactions with their hosts. Through lectures and discussions, IB 118 will consider the broad range of host-microbe interactions – from mutualism to pathogenesis, and from pairwise interactions to the microbiome - learning the principles that shape these interactions, the technologies used to interrogate them and the molecular mechanisms underlying them.

We live in a microbial world, and microbes have shaped (and continue to shape) plant and animal physiology and evolution through a myriad of contributions – from mutualistic benefits to disease. Recent advances in genomic methodologies have further increased our appreciation of such contributions by highlighting the prevalence of organismal microbial communities and their complex interactions with their hosts. Through lectures and discussions, IB 118 will consider the broad range of host-microbe interactions – from mutualism to pathogenesis, and from pairwise interactions to the microbiome - learning the principles that shape these interactions, the technologies used to interrogate them and the molecular mechanisms underlying them.

Selected aspects of fungi: their structure, reproduction, physiology, ecology, genetics and evolution; their role in plant disease, human welfare, and industry. Offered even fall semesters.

Selected aspects of fungi: their structure, reproduction, physiology, ecology, genetics and evolution; their role in plant disease, human welfare, and industry. Offered even fall semesters.

(1) survey of museum resources, including strategies for accession, conservation, collecting and acquiring material, administration, and policies; (2) strategies for making collections digitally available (digitization, databasing, georeferencing, mapping); (3) tools and approaches for examining historical specimens (genomics, isotopes, ecology, morphology, etc); and (4) data integration and inference. The final third of the course will involve individual projects within a given museum.

(1) survey of museum resources, including strategies for accession, conservation, collecting and acquiring material, administration, and policies; (2) strategies for making collections digitally available (digitization, databasing, georeferencing, mapping); (3) tools and approaches for examining historical specimens (genomics, isotopes, ecology, morphology, etc); and (4) data integration and inference. The final third of the course will involve individual projects within a given museum.

The course will provide a historical background for the field of biogeography and the ecological foundations needed to understand the distribution and abundance of species and their changes over time. It will also discuss developing technologies (including genomic tools and environmental models) together with the availability of big data and increasingly sophisticated analytical tools to examine the relevance of the field to global change biology, conservation, and invasion biology, as well as sustainable food systems and ecosystem services.

The course will provide a historical background for the field of biogeography and the ecological foundations needed to understand the distribution and abundance of species and their changes over time. It will also discuss developing technologies (including genomic tools and environmental models) together with the availability of big data and increasingly sophisticated analytical tools to examine the relevance of the field to global change biology, conservation, and invasion biology, as well as sustainable food systems and ecosystem services.

The course will provide a historical background for the field of biogeography and the ecological foundations needed to understand the distribution and abundance of species and their changes over time. It will also discuss developing technologies (including genomic tools and environmental models) together with the availability of big data and increasingly sophisticated analytical tools to examine the relevance of the field to global change biology, conservation, and invasion biology, as well as sustainable food systems and ecosystem services.

Covers topics ranging from mythological ideas about spiders and their importance in traditional cultures and folklore, to diversity patterns, ecology, behavior, and general biology of spiders. In the laboratory section, students learn to identify local spiders and to prepare a collection.