Ohio University | College of Arts and Sciences | Department of Environmental and Plant Biology

Porter Hall 315 | Athens OH 45701 | Tel 740 593 1126 | Fax 740 593 1130

Graduate Programs

Graduate Program Courses

Environmental and Plant Biology:

  • 508 Vascular Plant Morphology (6)Comparative morphology, anatomy, and life histories of vascular plants.

  • 509 Plant Systematics (6) Principles and methods of systematics; angiosperm taxonomy; processes and patterns of vascular plant evolution. Emphasis in lab on angiosperm floral morphology, pollination mechanisms, and family characteristics.

  • 510 Biology of Fungi (5)Life histories and characteristics unique to fungi. Collection and identification of mushrooms, plant pathogens, and slime molds. Biotrophic, saprotrophic, and necrotrophic relationships of fungi with plants. Field and laboratory.

  • 515 Quantitative Methods in Plant Biology (5)Lecture: biostatistics and applications in the plant sciences; scientific method, hypothesis testing, and design of experiments; sampling, data analysis, regres-sion and correlation, analysis of variance, parametric and nonparametric statistics. Lab: microcomputer applications in spreadsheet analysis, statistics, and graphics.

  • 518 Writing in the Plant Sciences (4)Current research and public controversy dealing with topics in biology and plant science will provide students opportunities to practice and master skills needed for successful written communication in the fields of plant science and biology.

  • 520 Phycology (5) Classification, nomenclature, relationships, morphology, reproduction, life histories, and economic importance of freshwater and marine algae.

  • 522 Tropical Plant Ecology (4) Tropical rainforest studies around the world, including basic plant ecology, conservation, and management.

  • 526 Physiological Plant Ecology (5) The effects of biotic and abiotic environmental factors on the physiological responses of plants.

  • 527 Molecular Genetics (3)Fine structure of gene, biochemistry of gene action genetic regulation.

  • 531 Cell Biology (5)Biochemical, cytochemical, and ultrastructural aspects of the nucleus and cytoplasmic organelles, mitosis, meiosis, and cellular differentiation.

  • 535 Plant Population Biology (5)Acquaint students with basic demographic processes as experienced by plant populations; 2) explore the demographic implications of a range of plant growth forms and life histories; 3) present the material in the context of a variety of models. The course will take an evolutionary/behavioral approach to plant populations.

  • 536 Plant Community Ecology (5) Advanced concepts and theory of plant community ecology. Emphasis will be placed on the interplay between theory and empirical studies. Classic literature will be reviewed and case studies developed from the modern literature to explore current ideas of theory, approach, and experimentation. Laboratories will emphasize modern field methods of vegetation analysis and environmental assessment.

  • 537 Ecosystem Ecology (4) Analysis of the composition, function, and heterogeneity of ecosystems. Topics include: atmospheric, climate and geological controls on ecosystem function, comparisons of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, ecosystem production, nutrient cycling and trophic dynamics. Synthesis with evaluation of human impacts on ecosystems, locally and globally.

  • 542 Experimental Anatomy of Plant Development (5)The concepts of plant development have been integrated with the descriptive assessment of cell, tissue, and organ types that are the mainstay of plant anatomy to provide an exciting opportunity for all plant biologists. The course is grounded in experimentation and includes cutting edge methodologies.

  • 550 Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (4)Introduction to basic molecular biological concepts and techniques in biotechnology and genetic engineering, including discussion of current experimentation and progress in these fields.

  • 560 Paleobotany (6) Morphology, evolution, and stratigraphic position of representative fossil plant groups.

  • 575 Plant Speciation (5) Theories and principles of evolution and speciation in plants, emphasizing microevolution, breeding systems, cytology, species concepts, and species complexes.

  • 580 Molecular Approaches in Plant Systematics, Ecology, and Evolution (5) Overview of comparative molecular approaches used to infer relationships in plants at level of populations, species and lineages.

  • 670 Botanical Pedagogy (1) Preparation for botanical teaching in colleges and universities.

  • 691 Seminar (2) Graduate students present seminars on topics of current botanical interest.

  • 693 Topics in Botany (2-6) Advanced discussion courses offered when there is sufficient student interest in a significant current topic. Previous topics have included histochemical methods, current problems in biochemistry, plant anatomy, pteridology, and soil microbiology.

  • 694 Graduate Research (1-15) Original research in field of major interest under supervision of major advisor. Results and conclusions resulting from research may be presented in M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation as partial fulfillment for respective degree.

Additional Ecology/Organismal Biology classes in other departments:

  • BIOS/GEOG 516 Biogeography (4) Examination of historical, environmental, and biotic influences that shape spatial patterns of plant and animal distributions and community structure in the contemporary landscape.

  • BIOS 531 Aquatic Ecology (5) Physical, chemical, and biological processes in lakes (analogous to those of oceanography), with emphasis on the analysis of data; distribution, abundance, and dynamics of plant and animal populations; structure, organization, and productivity of communities. Lab covers both standing and running freshwater habitats, with emphasis on acid mine pollution.

  • BIOS 535 Entomology (6) Overview of insect biology. Lecture: insect morphology, physiology, behavior, systematics, evolution, and ecology. Lab: emphasis on insect collection and identification.

  • BIOS 870 Biostatistics II (5) Application of multivariate statistics to biology; multiple regression and correlation, principal components, canonical correlation, discriminant function, and factor analysis. Project in experimental design and analysis of data.

  • GEOG 517 Landscape Ecology (5) Explores landscape mosaics, focusing on landscape elements and the implication of spatial pattern for populations, communities, and ecosystems. Examines the role of humans in influencing landscape pattern and change.

  • GEOG 553 Environmental Planning (5) Introduction to the development, implementation, and operation of activities to guide landscape development. Emphasis on interaction between natural and social systems, methods of environmental analysis, and the evolution of environmental planning strategies.

  • GEOG 570 Geographic Information Systems Applications (5) Applications of geographic information systems (GIS) to solving spatial problems. Instruction is a problem-oriented approach using desktop GIS. Students will learn how to use vector and gridbased GIS to answer problems with a geospatial component. Course emphasizes methods for importing and integrating date sources and digital boundary files from the Internet and other sources. The purpose is to give students critical thinking skills to solve spatial problems using automated methods.

  • GEOG 579 Geographic Information Analysis (5) In-depth examination of the methods of spatial data analysis and the utilization of GIS.

Additional Molecular Courses from other departments:

  • BIOS 680B Techniques in Electron Microscopy (6) Principles and methods for preparation of biological specimens for ultrastructural analysis and research, and some associated techniques. Instruction in microscope operation and maintenance and darkroom techniques.

  • CHEM 590 General Biochemistry I (4) Protein chemistry, enzymology, and nucleic acid chemistry.

  • CHEM 591 General Biochemistry II (4) Bioenergetics, metabolism, and metabolic control systems.

  • CHEM592 General Biochemistry III (4) Study of integrated molecular systems in biology.

  • MCB 720 Molecular Biology (4) Introduction to the basic concepts and techniques used in molecular biology. Topics include nucleic acid and chromatin structure, replication, recombination, the processes of transcription and translation and their regulation, plasmids, viruses, transposable elements, and techniques used in molecular biology.

  • MCB 730 Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory (4) Exposes the MCB student to a wide variety of laboratory techniques used in the broad field of molecular and cellular biology by allowing the student to carry out these techniques in the laboratory.

  • MCB 760 Advanced Cell Biology (4) A discussion of current research directions in cell biology. Topics include, but are not limited to, protein transport and targeting, cell cycle, membrane transport and excitability, and cellular differentiation. Emphasis on current research directions of these topics.