Courses Taught

BSC 497/695 - Marine Biogeography & Evolution (Spring 2022): Although evolution isn't a fundamentally different process in the ocean than it is on land, key differences exist between marine and terrestrial environments that can lead to differences in the mode and tempo of how biodiversity is generated and maintained across geographic space. In this course we compare and contrast evolutionary processes between marine and terrestrial environments, with a special focus on the origin of marine biodiversity hotspots, the relative contributions of allopatric and sympatric speciation, gene flow, and effective population sizes. This course will include a hands-on field component at Dauphin Island Sea Lab where we will visit and snorkel around hard bottom habitats and offshore natural gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

​DISL Summer 2022 - Relationships on the Reef (Summer 2022): The importance of symbioses are underscored by their ubiquity- virtually all of life engages in complex multi-level symbiotic interactions that profoundly impact the formation and maintenance of biodiversity around the globe. Perhaps no ecosystem is more conspicuously reliant on symbiosis that tropical coral reefs. In this course we will travel to the island of Utila- part of the Bay Islands, Honduras- to explore the diversity, evolution, ecology, behavior, and function of symbiotic interactions found on Caribbean coral reefs.