Freshwater Biology - BSCI 467 (4 credits)

Course format: Three hours of lecture and three hours of lab each week.

Availability: Offered fall semesters.

Prerequisite: BSCI 227 or permission of instructor.

Course description: "Freshwater Biology" is designed for upper undergraduates and beginning graduate students with interests in aquatic ecology and the biology of organisms inhabiting lentic (e.g., lakes, ponds, wetlands) and lotic (e.g., rivers, streams, creeks) habitats. One feature of the course is the extensive hands-on experience through field trips and demonstrations during the first half of the course. This experience will provide background and reinforcement of principles and facts from lectures and discussions on the ecology of freshwater organisms and the community/ecosystem structure of freshwaters. The identification portion of the laboratory during the second half of the course will emphasize aquatic insects, which are often the most diverse and abundant group of organisms associated with freshwater habitats. However, other components of freshwater ecosystems, e.g. plankton and periphyton as primary producers, and fish as higher level consumers, will be included in both lab and lecture material. A second feature of the course is the use of primary research articles to introduce key ecological concepts and to generate discussion on the process and growth of knowledge within freshwater ecology.

Aquatic Entomology - ENTM 667 (3 credits)

Course format: One hour of lecture and six hours of laboratory each week.

Availability: Offered fall semesters of odd years.

Course description: "Aquatic Entomology" is designed for graduate students with interests in aquatic ecology and the identification of insects inhabiting lentic (e.g., lakes, ponds, wetlands) and lotic (e.g., rivers, streams, creeks) habitats. Because of the widespread occurrence of aquatic species within the hexapods, insects have invaded freshwater habitats many times during their evolution, in some cases multiple times within an order of insects. This evolution has resulted in a diversity of morphological and physiological adaptations. Thirteen orders of the Class Insecta and other hexapods, including approximately 145 families and 650 genera in North America, have species that are intimately associated with freshwater at least part of their life cycle. Aquatic insects serve critical functions of freshwater ecosystems, including organic material processing, herbivory of micro- and macrophytes, predation of invertebrates (including other insects) and vertebrates (such as amphibians and fish), and as food for higher trophic levels. Because individual taxa respond differently to physical and chemical conditions of freshwater habitats, they are commonly used as bioindicators of environmental stresses caused by humans. In addition, many species of aquatic insects are important pests, such as mosquitoes and black flies. The course will emphasize the biology, ecology, and identification of aquatic insects (and other hexapods), as well as applied aspects of biological monitoring and pest management.

Topic Seminars - ENTM 798x (1 credit)

Course format: Two hours of discussion each week.

Availability: Offered usually once per year, fall or spring.

Course description: Topics of seminars vary depending in part on the interest of students. Some recent examples are:

• Fall, 2006, ENTM 798G, "Topic Seminar: Crop Response to Injury by Insect Herbivores".
• Spring, 2007, ENTM 798R, "Topic Seminar: Current Issues in the Ecology of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates".
• Spring, 2008, ENTM 798P, "Host Plant Acceptance and Utilization by Phytophagous Insects".