BIOG 402. Insect Biology. 4 crs. This lecture/laboratory course includes taxonomy, morphology, physiology, behavior, and ecological and evolutionary relationships in the class Insecta.
BIOG 403. Research Seminar in Parasitology. 2 crs. Reports and discussions on current trends and ongoing research in parasitological investigations.
BIOG 404. Parasitology. 4 crs. Considers the biology of protozoan and metazoan parasites of man and animals and the host-parasite relationship. Prereqs.: consent of instructor.
BIOG 405. Social Insects. 4 crs. This lecture and laboratory course considers taxonomy, morphology, ecology, evolutionary, and behavioral aspects of the social insect groups: ants, bees, termites, and wasps.
BIOG 406. Experimental Parasitology. 4 crs. Discussion and experimentation of biomedical and physiological relationships of parasites.
BIOG 407. Icthyology. 4 crs. The study of fish biology, including taxonomy, morphology, population dynamics and distribution of fishes, and a critical review of current ichtyological research. The laboratory consists of field experience, along with dissection of representative forms.
BIOG 408. Herpetology. 4 crs. This lecture-laboratory course concerns the study of amphibians and reptiles and focuses on the taxonomic, morphological, physiological, behavioral, ecological and evolutionary relationships.
BIOG 409. Animal Behavior. 4 crs. Environmental and quantitative approach to behavior illustrating basic principles, with emphasis on physiological bases, ecological correlates, and evolutionary aspects.
BIOG 410. Plant Systematics. 4 crs. Lecture-laboratory course involving the basic principles and concepts in the classification and nonmenclature of vascular plants.
BIOG 413. Developmental Biology. 4 crs. Discusses gametogenesis, fertilization, cleavage, differentiation and mechanisms controlling these processes. Laboratory includes study of living invertebrate specimens.
BIOG 416. Advanced Cytology. 4 crs. Analyzes ultrastructural cytology, with emphasis on current techniques in transmission and scanning electron microscopy and cytochemistry.
BIOG 422. Immunology. 3 crs. Covers humoral and cellular immunity against infections and non-self agents; cellular interactions and differentiations events associated with the immune response; and applications of immunology to biomedicine.
BIOG 425. Pathogenic Bacteriology. 4 crs. Lecture-laboratory course in which the pathways of etiological agents of disease, methods of identification and therapy, and control measures are considered.
BIOG 426. Food Microbiology. 4 crs. Lecture-laboratory course involving the microbiology and epidemiology of food-borne diseases and food poisoning and the microbiology of fermented foods. Methods of prevention and identification are considered.
BIOG 430. Biostatistics. 4 crs. Deals with measures of central tendency and dispersion; binominal, student, and chi-square distribution; and hypothesis testing related to biological problems.
BIOG 432. Plant Ecology. 4 crs. A comprehensive study of plants in relation to the biotic and abiotic environment. The course includes lectures, laboratories, and field trips to investigate population and community ecology to emphasize an evolutionary perspective.
BIOG 424. Environmental Microbiology. 4 crs. An integrated approach to studying the role of microorganisms in environmental waste management. The microbiology of air, water, soil and sewers are addressed. Emphases are placed on the public health implications of microbes and their products in the environment, and the role of microbes in bioremediation of hazardous chemical wastes.
BIOG 441/442. Endocrinology. 3 crs. Treats the endocrine system systematically, beginning with a discussion of basic concepts, such as the properties of hormones, mechanism of action, hormone assay, and then such recognized endocrine glands as the hypothalamus and adrenal cortex. Emphasis is placed on vertebrate endocrine physiology, with some invertebrate comparisons.
BIOG 444. Introduction to Neurobiology. 4 crs. The function of nervous systems from a molecular and cellular prospective. Topics include cellular neurophysiology, synaptic transmission, processing of sensory information and motor control of movement.
BIOG 445. Eukaryotic Gene Expression. 4 crs. Study of the chemical nature of the genetic materials, mutation, the genetic code, protein synthesis, enzyme subunit structure, genetic complementation, and gene action and development.
BIOG 446. Mycology. 4 crs. General study of the biology of fungi, with emphasis on their development, phylogency, and ecologic distribution.
BIOG 448. Techniques in Biochemistry. 4 crs. Introduces student to the theoretical bases and practical applications of experimental techniques in cellular biochemistry. Lecture-laboratory instruction on the following: pH, buffers and solutions (gravimetric and spectrophotometric methods); purification of enzymes and other proteins by chromatographic (MEC, IEC, etc.) and electrophoretic (PAGE, SDS-PAGE, IEF) methods; enzymet kinetics (Km, inhibition); isozymes (pl, Km, Mr, densitometry); estimation of relative molecular mass of proteins by denaturing and non-denaturing methods (retardation coefficients); quantitative (graphic and statistical) analysis of experimental data; BASIC computer programming.
BIOG 449. Population Genetics. 4 crs. Focuses on the genetic structure of population, factors affecting gene frequency, geno-type-environment interaction, and genetic relationship in natural artificial populations. Prereqs.: 050-200 and consent of instructor.
BIOG 450. Molecular Genetics. 4crs. Lecture-laboratory course in which studies of plant and microbial genomes are conducted through nucleic acid analysis and applications of recombinant - DNA technology and environmental mutagenesis.
BIOG 451. Ultrastructure. 4 crs. Course in electron microscopy undertaking methods of preparation of biological specimens and a study of their fine structure. Prereq.: 050-310 or equivalent.
BIOG 457. Morphology of Lower Plants. 4 crs. Intensive examination of the development, ecology, and phylogenetic relationships of the prokaryotes, fungi, algal groups, and bryophytes. Prereqs.: 050-101, 102, and advanced standing.
BIOG 459. Morphology of Vascular Plants. 4 crs. In-depth study of the origin, structure, ontogenetic patterns, and evolutionary relationships of vascular plants. Alternate year course. Prereq.: 050-101, 102.
BIOG 461. Exobiology and the Origin of Life. 3 crs. A comprehensive survey of the biological, geochemical astrophysical aspects of the possible occurrence of extraterrestrial life. The origin of life is examined in depth. The current observational search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence (SETTI) is discussed.
BIOG 463. History of Evolutionary and Geological Sciences. 3 crs. The course is a survey of the development of conceptions of life and the earth since ancient time, with emphasis on the genesis of scientific theories and their societal and philosophic context.
BIOG 464. Biomonitoring. 4 crs. This lecture/laboratory course examines the theory and techniques used in the assessment of populations of various biota and the pollutant levels in organisms with emphasis on application to environmental and ecological risk assessment.
BIOG 500/501. Graduate Seminar. 1 cr. Students are required to attend seminars of invited speakers on topics of significant and current biological interest. Students will also review and discuss literature relevant to the seminars.
BIOG 510. Experimental Techniques in Biology. 3 crs. Introduction to the literature, techniques, instrumentation, and preparation of reports for biological research.
BIOG 520. Topics in Molecular Genetics. 2 crs. Analysis of current topics in genetic engineering, gene isolations, gene structure and regulation, and mutagenic tests.
BIOG 530. Graduate Topics in Biology. 2 crs. Graduate level seminars on selected topics chosen by graduate faculty according to faculty and student areas of interest. Seminars will focus on recently published articles and will include both discussion and presentations. This course will be rotated among all faculty such that each member of the graduate faculty will offer a section every other year or so. Two to four sections will be offered each semester. The seminar may include presentations from within and without the department, as well as presentations by students of dissertation research prior to the defense of the thesis or dissertation.
BIOG 532. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4 crs. This lecture and laboratory course introduces the student to how the sequence of DNA specifies all temporal and spacial information required for the assembly and function of living organisms. Students are taught how the chemical nature of the monomers of biological polymers interact to yield the ultimate structure and function of these molecules. The mechanisms of DNA replication, repair, transcription, translation, regulation of gene expression, cell-cell signaling, and cell division are studied in detail. The experimental techniques based on these mechanisms are studied on a theoretical and in some cases a hands-on basis. Among the applications covered are DNA sequencing, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), radiosiotopic and non-isotopic methods of visualization, hybridization and immunoselection methods, and recombinant DNA techniques.
BIOG 533. Ecological and Environmental Biology. 4 crs. This lecture and laboratory course will focus on the mechanisms underlying processes at the population, community and ecosystem level. Current research advances in these areas will be stressed including mathematical modeling.
BIOG 534. Evolutionary and Systematic Biology. 4 crs. This lecture and laboratory course will explore the genetic basis of evolutionary change, molecular evolution, rates of evolution, macroevolutionary processes and modern principles of classification, including phylogenetic analysis.
BIOG 542. Aquatic Entomology. 4 crs. This lecture/laboratory course includes study of the taxonomy, morphology, behavior, and reproductive biology of aquatic insects with specific emphasis on freshwater insect communities and ecosystems.
BIOG 544. Environmental Biogeochemistry. 4 crs. Focuses on the material circulation in the earth's surface system, with particular emphasis on elements which exchange with the biosphere and the anthroposphere (i.e., the space affected by human activity).
BIOG 599. M.S. Research. 1-6 crs. Graduate students pursue original research with the guidance of their adviser and thesis research committee.
BIOG 600. M.S. Thesis. 1-6 crs. In-depth presentation and discussion of original research on a current problem in zoology.
BIOG 699. Ph.D. Research. 1-6 crs. Graduate students pursue original research with the guidance of their adviser and thesis research committee.
BIOG 700. Ph.D. Thesis. 1-6 crs. In-depth presentation and discussion of original research on a current problem in zoology
