This is a gateway course for the Biomathematical Sciences Concentration. Four three-week modules will present active biomath research projects. The research will be presented by pairs of faculty (one from the life sciences and one from the mathematical and statistical sciences). Students will work in groups on activities including data collection, modeling and manipulations using mathematical, statistical and computational tools that they will learn in the course. Expected work includes reading papers and developing proposals for new research questions. Open to all students.

Topics course. [None]

Topics course. How does our environment shape the way we look and act? This seminar will explore the role and influence of past and current environments on the development of plants and animals at embryological, ecological, and evolutionary levels. Students will examine how toxins in our environment cause teratogenic effects, how phenotypic plasticity influences predator-prey interactions, and how new taxonomic groups may have evolved due to molecular changes during embryonic development.

The laboratory assignments allow students to observe microorganisms from diverse habitats present in the Lyman Plant House. Students will sample microbes associated with specific plants plus microbes present across the gradients of temperature and moisture within the plant house, students will then use microscopy and molecular techniques for experimentation with these organisms. Emphasis is on completion of an independent project. BIO 370 must be taken concurrently.