Topics in Ecological Genetics

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Ecological genetics concerns research at the interface of ecology, evolutionary biology and molecular genetics. Major goals are to determine the genetic basis of ecologically important traits and to elucidate processes of phenotypic evolution on a contemporary timescale. Current advances in DNA sequencing technology (NextGen sequencing) are opening up exciting new opportunities in this field. This upper-level seminar course will focus on recent primary literature that illustrates emerging approaches to topics in the field of ecological genetics based on NextGen sequencing. Students will be responsible for presenting primary literature, participating in classroom discussion and writing a “mini-review” paper on a topic related to their research interests.