2009 was the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species." The concept of biological evolution pre-dates Darwin. However, when Darwin presented a provocative mechanism by which evolution works (i.e., natural selection), he catapulted an idea to the forefront of biology that has precipitated 150 years of research into the nature and origin of organic diversity. This course will serve as an introduction to the science of evolutionary biology.

Are we what we eat? We eat foods for social and cultural reasons, and we eat foods because they contain nutrients that fuel our cells and allow us to function -- grow, think, and live. The quest for food is a major evolutionary theme and continues to profoundly shape ecological, social, and human biological systems.

The biochemical properties of food determine how humans can prepare and benefit from food. Why does wheat flour make great bread while rice flour does not? Why are eggs so versatile? What is flavor and taste? Why do we need to eat certain foods for proper health? These are just a few of the questions that we will be addressing in this kitchen laboratory course. Each week we will be conducting experiments using food (most of which should be consumable) in order to learn how the biochemistry of food dictates its behavior in preparation.

How do living things exist together? Ecology is the study of the relationships of living things to each other and their environment. With an emphasis on plants, this course will introduce students to population, community and landscape ecology, as well as explore broader socio-ecological perspectives, including conservation/restoration ecology, the effects of global change, ecological justice and political ecology. We will use a combination of primary scientific literature, popular science media, environmental literature, and textbook resources.

In this course we will learn the fundamental chemical concepts of composition and stoichiometry, properties of matter, the gas laws, atomic structure, bonding and molecular structure, chemical reactions, and energy changes in chemical reactions. Considerable time will be devoted to learning the use of the periodic table as a way of predicting the chemical properties of elements. We will also emphasize application of those chemical principles to environmental, biological, industrial and day-to-day life situations.

Modern civilization was built on fossil fuels, but will global warming and other consequences of fossil fuel use bring the end of civilization? In this class we will explore how humans make and use energy, its benefits, and its consequences. We will examine all forms of energy but focus on renewable electrical energy. On the global scale, we will explore the history, current practices, and future potential of renewable energy from all angles, including technological, political, and environmental.

This course will explore environmental pollution problems covering four major areas: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the biosphere, and energy issues. Several topics, including acid rain; automobile emissions; ozone layer depletion; climate change; mercury, lead and cadmium poisoning; pesticides; solid waste disposal; and problems of noise and thermal pollution will be addressed. We will emphasize some of the environmental issues affecting our immediate community, as well as those in developing nations.

This course looks at agriculture as a set of ecological systems and issues. It refers to ecology in both the sense of interactions between organisms (e.g., crops, pests, and predators) and their environment, and in the larger-scale sense of environmental impacts and related social and political issues. A broad range of topics will be covered, including pesticides and alternatives, soil fertility and erosion, the role of animals, genetically modified crops, biofuels, global vs. local trade and more.

This course focuses on the science of human genetic and biological variation. How does variation come about in evolution? Which variations have adaptive and functional significance and which are "just differences"? What is the evolutionary explanation, distribution, and significance of human variation in, for example, sickle cell anemia, skin color and sports performance? How are individuals grouped, how are differences studied, and to what purpose?

Students in this course will learn about the biological function of selected human organs and systems through the study of actual medical cases. Not all human systems will be covered, but students will gain a good understanding of how diseases affect the body and how they are diagnosed. Working in small teams, students will develop diagnoses for medical cases through reviewing descriptions of patient histories, physical exams, and laboratory findings.