Courses
A laboratory course designed for non-science majors. This survey course examines major biological principles, while emphasizing current and topical subject matter. Major themes include evolution, diet, human physiology, human diseases, biodiversity, and the environment. Three class periods and one two-hour laboratory period. Four credits.
I team teach this course with other faculty. In 2011 I will be teaching with Dr. Ted Taigen
A recent syllabus: Open Document
Course website: Link
A survey course of the science of entomology. The lecture emphasizes insect anatomy, behavior, biology, development, diversity, ecology, evolution, and physiology. Two lecture and two-hour lab periods each week. Four credits. The collection requirements and associated field trips, while demanding, are a perennial favorite, as are the three rounds of bug jeopardy, the “insect-in-the news” vignettes, and our Thanksgiving Bug Buffet.
Course website: Link
This graduate-level course introduces students to concepts and modern procedures employed in systematic biology. The first third of the course is focused on species description, keys, nomenclature, digital resources, and electronic publication(s). The remainder of the class emphasizes using morphological and molecular data to infer phylogenies and using phylogenies to study biogeography, character evolution, and other evolutionary phenomena. Laboratories emphasize digital resources and software relevant to taxonomy, computer programs for inferring and evaluating phylogenies, and other software available to systematic biologologists. Two lectures and one three-hour-lab period each week. Four credits.
A recent syllabus: Open Document
Course website: Link
This graduate seminar is devoted to issues of interest to graduate students and faculty who make up the systematics program at the University of Connecticut. We read and discuss recent papers, often grouped thematically around topics of current importance. Paul Lewis, myself, and occasionally other faculty are the instructors of record. In recent semesters Beth Wade and Chris own, two graduate students have taken charge of many aspects of the course. The mix is dynamic with different faculty, post-docs, grads, and guests attending each week. We meet for an hour each Tuesday over the course of both semesters. One credit; pass-fail.
Course website: Link