An examination of how life evolved and how organisms interact to shape the natural world. Why did the dinosaurs disappear? What mechanisms can produce the chameleon's camouflage or the giraffe's long neck? Why do ecosystems contain such a wide diversity of species when competition between them should eliminate all but a few? How will life on earth change with increasing human domination of the planet? These and other questions related to the origin and future of life, conflict and cooperation between species, and dynamics of ecosystems will be explored. This course is required for all EEB majors and fulfills a requirement for medical school.

Students will learn to identify, understand, and (perhaps) reconcile conflicts between human activities such as farming, forestry, industry, and infrastructure development, and the conservation of species and natural ecosystems. We will also explore the role of biodiversity in providing critical ecosystem services to people. We will examine these topics in an interdisciplinary way, with a primary focus on ecology, but also including consideration of the economic and social factors underlying threats to biodiversity.

All life on Earth has, and continues to, evolve. This course will explore evolution within two frameworks: conservation genetics and species interactions. In the first half of the course, we will explore fundamental processes that work together to shape biodiversity and viability, both at the organismal and molecular levels. We then will examine how species interactions can be the driver of change, from sexual selection to predation and pathogens. Overall, this course will provide you with the basic tools to understand how evolution continues to shape contemporary ecological and the phenotypic traits we observe on our planet.

An introduction to the ecology and evolution of the woods, grasslands and rivers in and around Princeton. The course will meet on Friday mornings and afternoons and after preliminary lecture undertake field trips to local sites of ecological interest: the Institute Woods, Mountain Lakes, Stony Ford, Terhune Orchards, D&R Greenway, Autumn Hill and Bowman's Hill. Students will learn about the ecology and evolution of local plant and animal communities and develop independent research projects that examine specific aspects of their ecology.

How do wild organisms interact with each other, their physical environments, and human societies? Lectures will examine a series of fundamental topics in ecology--herbivory, predation, competition, mutualism, species invasions, extinction, climate change, and conservation, among others--through the lens of case studies drawn from all over the world. Readings will provide background information necessary to contextualize these case studies and clarify the linkages between them. Laboratories and fieldwork will explore the process of translating observations and data into an understanding of how the natural world works.

How can mathematical modeling help to illuminate biological processes? This course examines major topics in biology through the lens of mathematics, focusing on the role of models in scientific discovery. Students will learn how to build and analyze models using a variety of mathematical tools. Particular emphasis will be placed on evolutionary game theory. Specific topics will include: the evolution of cooperation and of social behavior from bacteria to humans; the evolution of multicellularity; the somatic evolution of cancer; virus dynamics (within host and within populations); and multispecies interactions and the evolution of mutualisms.

Is extinction forever? Discussion topics include defining moments of when a species should be listed as endangered, conventional conservation, mixed ancestry species utility to "re-create" a complete genome of an extinct species, the mechanics of biotechnology, challenges for policy and regulation, and ethics of species protection, recovery, and de-extinction. In this course, students will lead discussions on readings relevant to species that are endangered or extinct. We will discuss these evolutionary topics through mini-lectures, discussions, assigned readings, and in-class debates.

The course will cover the evolution and diversity of social behaviors and social organizations across animals. Part 1 will focus on the evolution of complex societies, such as cooperative breeding in birds and mammals and eusociality in insects. We will explore how social evolution theory explains the traits underlying these behaviors. In Part 2, we will focus on complex individualized relationships in some birds and mammals, especially primates. We will explore social cognition underlying decisions about cooperation and conflict, and how social status and integration impact health and wellbeing in both human and nonhuman societies.

Ecological systems at local to global scales. Students will examine fundamental methods of analyzing ecosystems,and apply these methods to questions about climate change and the global food system. Lectures cover theoretical elements and examples from the primary literature. Coursework emphasizes critical reading of scientific literature, written expression of scientific arguments, collaboration in group projects, and in-person presentation of findings to an audience.

The senior thesis (498-499) is a year-long project in which students complete a substantial piece of research and scholarship under the supervision and advisement of a Princeton faculty member. While a year-long thesis is due in the student's final semester of study, the work requires sustained investment and attention throughout the academic year. Required works-in-progress submissions, their due dates, as well as how students' grades for the semester are calculated are outlined below.

An advanced foundation in ecology, focusing on the 50 fundamental papers, is given. Topics include dynamics and structure of populations, communities and ecosystems, and conservation biology. (This is a core course.)

Systematic reviews of recent literature in areas of ecology, evolution, and animal behavior. The general survey of literature is supplemented with detailed discussion of selected research papers of unusual importance and significance. (This is a core course open to EEB grad students only.)

This course features a series of invited speakers who present contemporary research on central problems in ecology, evolution, behavior, conservation, and related fields.; and are an important part of the intellectual life of EEB. They offer opportunities to exchange ideas with leading researchers; to stay abreast of recent developments, current trends, and cutting-edge methods; and to expand one's scientific horizons by learning about work in areas an ancillary to one's own research . Class with the speaker immediately following the seminar is required for 1st and 2nd year EEB grad students, and is open only to those students.

The study of microbial biogeochemistry and microbial ecology. Beginning with the physical/chemical characteristics and constraints of microbial metabolism, we will investigate the role of bacteria in elemental cycles, in soil, sediment and marine and freshwater communities, in bioremediation and chemical transformations.

The bioinspired design course offers interdisciplinary, advanced design and critical thinking experience. Students will work in teams to integrate biological knowledge into the engineering design process. The course uses case studies to show how biological solutions can be transferred into engineering design. The case studies will include themes such as locomotion, materials, and sensing. By the end of the course, students will be able to use analogical design concepts to engineer a prototype based on biological function.

Important concepts and elements of molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and cell biology are examined in an experimental context. This course fulfills the requirement for students majoring in the biological sciences and satisfies the biology requirement for entrance into medical school.

Close reading of published papers illustrating the principles, achievements, and difficulties that lie at the interface of theory and experiment in biology. Two important papers, read in advance by all students, will be considered each week; the emphasis will be on discussion with students as opposed to formal lectures. Topics include: cooperativity, robust adaptation, kinetic proofreading, sequence analysis, clustering, phylogenetics, analysis of fluctuations, and maximum likelihood methods. A general tutorial on Matlab and specific tutorials for the four homework assignments will be available.

People have converted almost half of the world's native habitats to agriculture and harvested more than 75% of the remaining forests. This has conversion has contributed more than a quarter of the carbon people have added to the air and has been the primary cause of biodiversity loss. This course will explore potential solutions for meeting rising food, wood and energy demands while protecting habitats and their carbon.