Bruce Jayne, Teach

An advanced undergraduate/ graduate level lecture and lab course covering the evolution of vertebrates. This course is a bit of a hybrid between a vertebrate natural history and comparative vertebrate anatomy course. When anatomy is dealt with there is a strong emphasis on understanding how structures function and/or evolved. For each class of vertebrates, major topics include feeding, respiration, locomotion and reproduction. In the laboratory a bit more than half the time is spent identifying specimens (often to ordinal or familial level) with an emphasis on vertebrates that occur in the eastern United States. The remaining lab material covers some basic visceral and skeletal anatomy.  

An advanced undergraduate/ graduate level and lab course that fulfills the capstone requirement for undergraduates. As a result of collaboration between the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences, the laboratory has state-of-the-art equipment for digital acquisition of physiological data. The emphasis of the course is guiding students through the entire experience of performing scientific research all the way from designing experiments, gathering and analyzing data, and communicating the results in written and oral formats appropriate for a peer-reviewed journals and meetings of professional societies. The first half of the quarter consists of standard experiments that all student perform using techniques that are common in exercise physiology (analog to digital conversion, electrocardiograms, electromyograms, force transducers, measurements of ventilation and metabolic rates and frame-by frame analysis of motion recorded with digital video). For the second half of the quarter lab groups will execute an experiment of their own design. The extensive experience gained with quantitative analysis of data and scientific writing make this a great course for students pursuing advanced degrees in graduate, medical or veterinary school. The class size is presently limited to one section of 18 students. The small class size and the extensive interactions with the professor also make this experience well suited for obtaining a strong letter of recommendation. Anyone seriously interested in sports is also likely to gain a great deal by taking this course. Presently students are encouraged but not required to take Animal physiology (BIOL 571) as a prerequisite. Feel free to ask Dr. Jayne for a tour of the facilities if you think you may be interested in the course.