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Biodiversity Informatics

General

Prefix

BIOL

Course Number

475

Course Level

Undergraduate

Department/Unit(s)

Biological Sciences

College/School

College of Science and Engineering

Description

Biological collections, collection stewardship, biological collections databases, networks, cybertaxonomy, taxonomic concepts, ontology, specimen digitization, georeferenced specimens, predictive ecogeographic modeling, genomic databases, genomic partitioning strategies, models of molecular evolution, phylogenomics.

Prerequisites

Credits

Min

3

Max

3

Repeatable

No

Goals and Diversity

MN Goal Course

No

Cultural Diversity

No

Learning Outcomes

Outcome

Summarize the history of biological collections and their importance to ecological and evolutionary biology.

Outcome

Demonstrate good collection stewardship.

Outcome

Analyze the role of cybertaxonomy in modern taxonomy.

Outcome

Evaluate methods of specimen digitization and applications of this data for taxonomic, phylogenetic, and evolutionary studies.

Outcome

Analyze the importance of georeferencing biological collections and how to access databases with georeferenced information.

Outcome

Apply ecogeographic predictive modeling for ecological and evolutionary studies.

Outcome

Examine genomic databases associated with biological collections.

Outcome

Summarize genomic partitioning strategies, models of molecular evolution, and fundamentals of phylogenomics.

Outcome

Apply methods and applications of phylogenomic studies.

Outcome

Evaluate the data and conclusions drawn from primary literature, particularly in relation to cybertaxonomy, phylogenomics, and bioinformatics.

Course Outline

Course Outline

History of biological collections and importance of museum specimens. 10% Collection stewardship and role of biological collections in an age of bioinformatics including biological collection databases (e.g., Global Biodiversity Inventory Facility). 10% Principles of cybertaxonomy, fundamentals of taxonomic concepts, and ontology. 10% Methods of specimen digitization, databases for morphological data, and applications for digitized specimen information. 15% Databases of georeferenced specimens and predictive ecogeographical modeling. 15% Genomic databases associated with biological collections. 10% Fundamentals of phylogenomic analyses of genomic data, and phylogenomic methods for inferring evolutionary relationships. 20% Genomic partitioning strategies, models of molecular evolution, publication databases and meta tags. 10%

Dependencies

Programs

BIOL475 is a completion requirement for: