Temperature influences the world as we know it, shaping individual molecules, vast landscapes, and everything in between. From Antarctic fish that circulate anti-freeze proteins in their blood, to desert jackrabbits that use their ears as cooling factories, earth's organisms have evolved fascinating adaptations to survive in their thermal habitat. In this course, we will explore how temperature shapes the evolution and ecology of the natural world around us.

Everyone needs to eat! How are major food crops developed to feed the world? In this course we will learn how conventional breeding and modern genetic techniques are used by scientists for crop improvement. What is the biology underlying these methods? What does it mean for a plant to be genetically modified? What resources exist to improve crops to face current food security issues such as changing environmental conditions, pest management, and increasing demand? Apply your knowledge and propose your own food security solution at the end of the semester!

That Honeycrisp apple you ate today was thousands of years in the making. If we suddenly abandoned our corn fields, corn as we know it would cease to exist. This course is designed for students intrigued by the science that produced our modern fruit and vegetable crops, as well as those generally interested in plant biology and evolution. We will explore the intricate relationship between humans and plants, focusing on how humans have re-shaped plant biology for their own benefit.

Learn to navigate life on beast mode: this seminar will objectively look at principles of food science and culinary arts to slice against the grain in life's barriers. Students will be taught an array of unique skills from these disciplines to improve quality of palate and life. Prepare your ears, eyes, tongue, and mind: we'll challenge your sensory perception!

If evolution leads to the "survival of the fittest," why are humans still vulnerable to infection, injury, and disease? Why do our bodies and brains break down as we age? Is eating like our caveman ancestors really the ideal diet? Rather than looking for molecular or physiological answers to these questions, this course will explore how human health is influenced by our unique evolutionary history.

Language is uniquely human and, as such, is essential to our daily lives. But what happens to our language when the structure of our brains is altered? In this seminar we will gain a basic understanding of language through a scientific lens, with a particular focus on its biological and neural basis.

Monarch butterflies migrate all the way from Canada to Mexico, the Laysan albatross can travel 500 miles with a few flaps of its wings, and bats use all of their ?hand bones? to adjust with fine movements during flight! Let's explore the amazing phenomenon of flight. In this course, we will discover how very different animals are able to accomplish flight, as well as how they use it to capture food, find mates, escape predators, and avoid unfavorable climates.

What are minerals used for? You may think of shiny gemstones worn as jewelry or metallic ores. But what about in your cell phone? How about in wind turbines and solar panels? How about asbestos? did you know this is a mineral? Not only will we answer these questions, we will learn how minerals are characterized and identified, as well as discuss the controversies surrounding mining. We will also visit a collection of world-class minerals and the laboratories that study them.

Human activity is causing our planet's climate to change at an unprecedented rate. With all of the information available these days from a variety of sources it can be challenging to cut through the noise and get to the actual science. How do we know what is causing climate change, how does the current situation differ from the past, and what is going to happen in the future?

All life forms on this planet interact with others in some capacity; most rely on others to survive. But those connections run much deeper than you may expect. From wildebeest on the Serengeti to the microbes living on and inside your body, discover how the presence or absence of one species can completely change the behavior of another or even alter an entire landscape.