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Students will be able to:

1. Describe the process, challenges, and benefits of structured decision making for natural resource management decisions.
2. Explain and reflect on the role of science and scientists in structured decision making and how those roles interact and compare to the roles of other stakeholders.
3. Assess scientific evidence for a given management or policy action to resolve an environmental issue.

Students will be able to: Week 1-4: Fundamentals of Science and Biology

• List the major processes involved in scientific discovery
• List the different types of scientific studies and which types can establish causation
• Design experiments with appropriate controls
• Create and evaluate phylogenetic trees
• Define taxonomy and phylogeny and explain their relationship to each other
• Explain DNA sequence divergence and how it applies to evolutionary relationships and DNA barcoding

Week 5-6: Ecology

• Define and measure biodiversity and explain its importance
• Catalog organisms using the morphospecies concept
• Geographically map organisms using smartphones and an online mapping program
• Calculate metrics of species diversity using spreadsheet software
• Use spreadsheet software to quantify and graph biodiversity at forest edges vs. interiors
• Write a formal lab report

Week 7-11: Cellular and Molecular Biology

• Extract, amplify, visualize and sequence DNA using standard molecular techniques (PCR, gel electrophoresis, Sanger sequencing)
• Explain how DNA extraction, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and Sanger sequencing work at the molecular level

Week 12-13: Bioinformatics

• Trim and assemble raw DNA sequence data
• Taxonomically identify DNA sequences isolated from unknown organisms using BLAST
• Visualize sequence data relationships using sequence alignments and gene-based phylogenetic trees
• Map and report data in a publicly available online database
• Share data in a formal scientific poster

After completing this laboratory series, students will be able to:

• apply the scientific method in formulating a hypothesis, designing a controlled experiment using appropriate molecular biology techniques, and analyzing experimental results;
• conduct a molecular biology experiment and explain the principles behind methodologies, such as accurate use of micropipettes, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), and gel electrophoresis;
• determine the presence of antibiotic-resistance genes in environmental samples by analyzing PCR products using gel electrophoresis;
• explain mechanisms of microbial antibiotic resistance;
• contribute data to the Antibiotic Resistance Genes Network;
• define and apply key concepts of antibiotic resistance and gene identification via PCR fragment size.