Because of the breadth of fields covered by this program, there are no fixed courses required of all students other than IB 546A (and IB 546B for new first-year students).The goal is to allow maximum flexibility while providing close supervision. It is strongly recommended that you confer with your advisor regarding the courses which you should take.
The number of courses and the particular courses taken depend on the individual's previous training and knowledge. Courses and laboratory and field experiences are supplemented by other courses selected by the student. Please refer to the SIB Course listings for suggestions.
Doctoral students: You must complete at least 96 hours of 400- or 500-level courses (64 hours beyond the M.S. requirements) with grades no lower than B or S.
Terminal Master's students: By the end of the second year, you must complete 32 hours of course work in your three core areas with grades no lower than B or S. No more than 12 hours of research (590 or 599 courses) can be counted.
Individual Topics (590) or Thesis Research (599):
Doctoral students should be registered in IB 590 before your Prelim and then in 599 from the time of your Prelim until your Final Defense. Terminal Master's students need to register in at least one semester of 599, but may register in 599 for all terms.
Approved rubrics for 599 are BIOL, NRES, ENT or PBIO. Approval to count 599 courses in rubrics other than those listed above, must be granted through a petition. The CRNs used for IB 590 and the 599 courses are individual to your advisor, and sometimes the semester. Please contact the PEEC secretary (or the secretary of your advisor's department) to obtain the correct CRN. Note: The number in the Course Schedule is a generic number and is NOT the correct number to use.
Ecology
| Course ID | Course Description |
|---|---|
| ANTH 450 | Zooarchaeology: Study how animals fit into past human societies through the analysis of animal remains recovered from archaeological sites. |
| IB 431 | Behavioral Ecology: Areas of current interest at the interface of behavior, ecology, and evolution. |
| IB 439 | Biogeography: Spatial and temporal patterns of biological diversity and the factors that goven the distribution and abundance of taxa. |
| IB 442 | Functional Ecology of Trees: Synthesis of the physiological and morphological mechanisms defining the ecological performance of trees and other woody plants in natural communities. |
| IB 444 | Insect Ecology: Practical and theoretical aspects of ecology in relation to insects as individuals, populations, and communities. |
| IB 447 | Field Ecology: Study of plant communities in various sections of North America. |
| IB 449 | Limnology: Study of the lake, pond, and river with emphasis on the physical environment as well as on plants and animals that live in fresh water. |
| IB 450 | Stream Ecology: A description of physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of streams and rivers including an integrated study of the environmental factors affecting the composition and distribution of biota. |
| IB 452 | Ecosystem Ecology: Distribution and structure of ecosystems on earth; integration of multiple disciplines to gain a holistic view of ecosystem function; ecosystem concepts as they apply to understand natural and anthropogenic environmental change. Offered in alternate years. |
| IB 453 | Community Ecology: The direct and indirect interactions among species that determine the structure and composition of plant and animal communities. Emphasis will be on the maintenance of species diversity and its consequences at both local and regional scales. |
| IB 494 | Theoretical Biology + Models: Encode biological mechanisms into mathematical models, develop the skills to find solutions to these models and relate them to biological data. |
| NRES 407 | Wildlife Population Ecology: Application of principles of population biology to the analysis, management, and conservation of wildlife populations. |
| NRES 419 | Environment and Plant Ecosystems: Relationships between environmental factors and structural characteristics and processes in ecosystems; impact of human activities on the environment and their effect on plant ecosystems. |
| NRES 465 | Landscape Ecology: Introduction to the theory, methods, and application of landscape ecology, with an emphasis on characterizing heterogeneity and examining its consequences for ecological processes across a variety of spatial and temporal scales. |
| NRES 595 | Advanced Quantitative Techniques for Ecology and Conservation: Learn about the tools researchers and managers use to address questions in population ecology and conservation. |
Evolution and Systematics
| Course ID | Course Description |
|---|---|
| ANTH 407 | Evolutionary Immunology: Animal immune system physiology and function in the context of evolutionary and anthropological theory and research. |
| ANTH 441 | Human Genetics: Principles of human genetics; anthropological aspects of race and race formation; and hereditary and environmental factors in the biological variation of modern humans. |
| IB 405 | Evolution of Traits and Genomes: Study of the evolution of phenotypic traits and genetics of natural populations, stressing empirical observations and experiments. Emphasis on recent theories of genotype/environmental interactions and their relationship to evolutionary processes. Offered in alternate years. |
| IB 416 | Population Genetics: Mathematical theory of the genetics of populations. |
| IB 426 | Environmental and Evolutionary Physiology of Animals: Physiological adaptations of invertebrate and vertebrate animals to diverse aquatic and terrestrial environments. |
| IB 443 | Evolutionary Ecology: Evolution of life-history strategies in plants and animals and the coevolution of animals and plants. |
| IB 461 | Ornithology: Structure, function, ecology, behavior, and evolution of birds of the world. |
| IB 462 | Mammalogy: Classification, distribution, life history, evolution, and identification of mammals. |
| IB 463 | Ichthyology: Classification, anatomy, ecology, behavior, distribution, and evolution of fishes of the world. |
| IB 464 | Herpetology: Classification, diversity, structure, function, ecology, behavior, and evolution of amphibians and reptiles. |
| IB 467 | Principles of Systematics: Comprehensive survey of the theory and methodology of systematics as they are applied today to all groups of organisms. |
| IB 468 | Insect Classification and Evolution: Analytical survey of the classification and evolution of the orders and principal families of insects. |
| IB 471 | Fungal Diversity and Ecology: An introduction to the extraordinary diversity of fungi: from symbionts of lichens to decomposers and mycorrhizas and the pathogens of plants and animals. |
| IB 501 | Programming for Genomics: Learn to think algorithmically by constructing a biological hypothesis, and implementing or deploying code to test that hypothesis. |
| MCB 435 | Evolution of Infectious Disease: Explore the ecology and evolution principles that apply to viruses, microbial eukaryotes, archaea and bacteria. |
| PSYC 433 | Evolutionary Neuroscience: Current methods, tools, and progress in evolutionary biology and quantitative genetics of brain and behavior of vertebrates. |
Conservation Biology
| Course ID | Course Description |
|---|---|
| ANSC 406 | Zoo Animal Conservation Science: The conservation, physiology and management of exotic animal species in a captive setting. |
| CB 540 | Wildlife Ecosystem Health: Use medical reasoning and technology in the investigation of problems related to conservation biology and ecosystem health. |
| IB 444 | Insect Pest Management: Study of the principles underlying the control of important insect pests of agriculture and of human and animal health. |
| IB 451 | Conservation Biology: Emphasis on the preservation of biological diversity and its evolutionary potential. |
| IB 545 | Fish and Wildlife Ecology Seminar: Modern ecological principles and concepts to specific problems in fisheries and wildlife. |
| NRES 407 | Wildlife Population Ecology: Application of principles of population biology to the analysis, management, and conservation of wildlife populations. |
| NRES 409 | Fishery Ecol and Conservation: Ecological and conservation concepts are applied to fisheries management practices. |
| NRES 420 | Restoration Ecology: Historical development of ecological restoration, its philosophical foundation, multi-disciplinary borrowings from the natural, applied, and social sciences, and varied practical applications, with an emphasis on the application of ecological principles. |
| NRES 429 | Aquatic Ecosystem Conservation: Apply principles of aquatic ecology to a broad range of conservation issues. |
| NRES 474 | Soil Conservation and Management: Application of principles of soil conservation and management to the solution of land-use problems. |
| NRES 480 | Human-Wildlife Interactions: Describe human-wildlife interactions along a spectrum from conflict to coexistence and enhance capacity to overcome negative perceptions of wildlife and to improve outcomes during human-wildlife interactions. |
Tools
| Course ID | Course Description |
|---|---|
| GEOG 477 | Introduction to Remote Sensing: Fundamentals of energy-matter interaction mechanisms. |
| IB 491 | Biological Modeling: Interdisciplinary modeling course for students interested in dynamic system modeling of living processes. |
| IB 492 | Spatial Ecosystem Modeling: Students build a spatial dynamic ecosystem computer model as a research team, focusing on a specific endangered species or ecosystem. |
| IB 494 | Theoretical Biology + Models: Encode biological mechanisms into mathematical models, develop the skills to find solutions to these models and relate them to biological data. |
| IB 501 | Programming for Genomics: Learn to think algorithmically by constructing a biological hypothesis, and implementing or deploying code to test that hypothesis. |
| MCB 571 | Bioinformatics: Statistical methods used in the analysis of genomic data, organized around data types commonly found in biological experiments. |
| NRES 421 | Natural Resource Biometrics: Statistical methods and modeling techniques used in management of forest and natural resources. |
| NRES 454 | Geographical Information Systems in Natural Resource Mgmt: GIS software and computers are used to demonstrate the utility of techniques for data acquisition, image processing, and map modeling. |
| NRES 598 MEM | Microbial Ecology Methods: Discuss experimental design, provide experience in techniques for sampling soil and rhizosphere microorganisms, and then be introduced to techniques for characterizing environmental microbial populations and bioinformatics tools to aid in the interpretation of molecular biology data. |
| NRES 598 QTF | Quant Techniques - Fish & Wildlife: Provides students with tools to estimate wildlife population parameters in a rigorous and robust manner. |
| PATH 560 | Spatial Epidemiology: Patterns of health and disease in place and time. |
| PATH 517 | Principle/Method Epidemiology: Theoretical and applied epidemiology, with examples from veterinary and human medicine. |