HONORS SYMPOSIUM IN BIOLOGY: BIODIVERSITY (HONRS 298)

Instructor:

Gary Dodson office: CL226c phone: 285‑8859 fax: 285-8804

e-mail: gdodson@bsu.edu

web page: www.bsu.edu/web/biology/faculty/dodson.html

Textbooks: The Diversity of Life, Wilson; Life, Purves et al.

The theme for the course is the diversity of life on earth, past and present. To fully understand this diversity from a scientific standpoint, one must understand the concepts of evolutionary theory. Therefore, evolutionary biology will be a predominant theme. Following this course, students will have a greater appreciation for the variety of life on earth. They will be more familiar with representatives of organisms from all kingdoms and gain an understanding of the evolutionary processes that generated, maintains, and sometimes diminishes this diversity. The ultimate goal of this education will be to produce individuals that have a greater understanding of the claim that biodiversity is valuable, and who are then capable of evaluating the arguments for and against conservation programs.

Major course objectives:

Fully understand how science as a process differs from other endeavors.

Appreciate the incredible variety of life on Earth.

Analyze Darwin's and Wallace's proposed mechanism of natural selection and examine how it bears on biodiversity.

Study the basics of the classification of organisms and conduct phylogenetic analyses.

Learn the characteristics and representatives of the major kingdoms and phyla of organisms and be able to properly categorize organisms that we encounter locally.

Understand the general dynamics of ecosystems.

Understand the major concepts of biogeography and use them to interpret the global distribution of organisms.

Be able to articulate and evaluate the claims for the rates that biodiversity is being diminished.

Participate in discussions of the proposed impact of biodiversity decline on human welfare.

Formulate a viewpoint on the morality of the human impact on other organisms.

Establish a position regarding the alleged conflict between environmental needs and economic realities.