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.

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.

How do immune systems work, and why do they work as they do? Why is there so much immunological polymorphism? To address these questions, students will examine immunology across multiple biological scales. At the molecular and cellular scales, students will learn mechanisms by which animals recognize and kill parasites. At the population scale, students will investigate causes of immunological heterogeneity. Both the clinical relevance (including to COVID-19) and the evolutionary basis of heterogeneity will be emphasized.

Sensory ecology investigates how animals extract information from the physical and social environment. All animals acquire and use information, but the sensory systems involved vary dramatically. Bats echolocate. Birds see ultraviolet colors. Electric eels shock their prey. Spiders communicate chemically. How do these processes work, and why did they evolve? In this course, we explore the mechanisms and functions of animal communication. We first review the different senses, emphasizing physiology and neurobiology. We then examine how animals use sensory information in foraging, mate choice, cooperation, anti-predator defense and mimicry.

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.)

This course covers the essential topics of what constitutes responsible conduct in research.

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.)

Intensive three week field course during (dates to be determined) in a suitable tropical locality. Readings, discussions, and individual projects. The content and location are varied to suit the needs of the participants. Students provide their own travel funds

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 dynamics of the emergence and spread of disease arise from a complex interplay between disease ecology, economics, and human behavior. Lectures will provide an introduction to complementarities between economic and epidemiological approaches to understanding the emergence, spread, and control of infectious diseases. The course will cover topics such as drug-resistance in bacterial and parasitic infections, individual incentives to vaccinate, the role of information in the transmission of infectious diseases, and the evolution of social norms in healthcare practices.

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.