HOME /

Teaching

FRSMR 51S: Natural History Museums and the Anthropocene (216084)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2022
FRSMR 51S: Natural History Museums and the Anthropocene (216084)
Natural history museums have inspired us for centuries and represent our best resources for understanding nature. They have been central to the development of countless scientific principles, including the theory of evolution itself. Yet the more inward facing missions of a museum are unfamiliar and the collections that sustain these efforts are vast and remain largely invisible. These institutions, however, have assumed a renewed relevance in the modern era of global change, especially as millions of artifacts are being mobilized online and facilitating a revolution in museum-based science.... Read more about FRSMR 51S: Natural History Museums and the Anthropocene (216084)

OEB 59: Plants and Human Affairs (143445)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2022
OEB 59: Plants and Human Affairs
The lives of humans and plants are deeply intertwined: in fact, many plants have arguably coevolved symbiotically with our species. These often unappreciated plant-human connections are the subject of this course. It will focus on several economically important plant groups, exploring how their biology predisposed them to playing an essential role in the human success story. Plant form, structure, ecology, evolution, biogeography, and underlying genetics have all contributed to their utility as sources of food, shelter, and medicine. Additional relevant themes include aspects of climate and... Read more about OEB 59: Plants and Human Affairs (143445)

OEB 103: Plant Systematics and Evolution (144583)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2021
An introduction to the diversity and evolution of vascular plants. The course focuses mainly on flowering plants because of their dominant role on the earth, but lycophytes, ferns, and gymnosperms are studied as well. A phylogeny of vascular plants provides the framework for their evolution and diversification. Related subjects, including plant habitats, biogeography, phylogenetics, herbaria, nomenclature, and pollination biology are also presented in lecture and laboratory.

EBB 556: Field Botany of Northern Michigan

Semester: 

N/A

Offered: 

2016

Co-taught with Melanie Gunn

A comprehensive field approach to vascular plants of the region, including characteristic species of terrestrial and wetland habitats as well as species known for their rarity or distinctive distribution patterns. Topics covered include the major plant families of the Great Lakes area, basic terminology and techniques useful in plant identification, the general phytogeography and ecology of the region especially as these relate to recent geological history of the landscape, and field recognition of over 300 selected species. A phylogeny of vascular plants...

Read more about EBB 556: Field Botany of Northern Michigan

OEB 59: Plants and Human Affairs

Semester: 

N/A

Offered: 

2016

Co-taught with Professor D. Pfister

An introduction to the uses of plants by humans. Topics include the form, structure and genetics of plants related to their use as sources of food, shelter, fiber, flavors, beverages, drugs, and medicines. Plant structure and reproduction are studied in lecture and laboratory with a particular focus on relationships between the plant's structural, chemical, or physiological attributes and the utility plant.

Prerequisite: OEB 10 or BS 51 or permission of instructor.