D. M. Welch dmarkwelch@mbl.edu
"Microbes Across Environments"
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory and techniques of microbiome science, an emerging field that bridges disciplines, merging microbiology with genomics, ecology, population and evolutionary biology, phylogenetics, ecosystem science, and biogeochemistry, and has broad applications in medicine, agriculture, and ecosystem health. Through a combination of faculty and guest lectures and student-led discussion of primary literature we will explore the vast biochemical and metabolic diversity of the microbial world and its relationships with multicellular life.
J. Morgan. jmorgan@mbl.edu & M. Perillo mperillo@mbl.edu
"Neurobiology and Behavior of Marine Organisms"
Marine organisms have played an instrumental role in defining how the nervous system works and the underlying neural mechanisms that drive animal behavior. This course will showcase how marine models such as lampreys, cephalopods, and echinoderms, have been used for seminal work in neurobiology and how they are being used today for novel, cutting-edge research. Coursework topics include: neuronal excitability, synapses, circuits, neurodevelopment, regeneration, evolution, and behavior. In addition to lectures and discussions of key literature, this course features hands-on laboratory-based exercises using imaging, physiology, and behavioral assays, as well as independent "discovery" projects to explore new research avenues. Projects and techniques learned in this course will synergistically complement neurobiology courses that focus on traditional animal systems.
Z. Swartz zswartz@mbl.edu
How do animals make eggs, and how to eggs make animals? How will a changing climate affect these processes? Students will learn broad concepts in animal reproduction and development, with an emphasis on the marine invertebrates, the most diverse group of animals in the oceans. Topics will include oogenesis, meiosis, fertilization, early development, and germ line specification, covered through morning lectures and journal club discussions of primary research papers. We will approach these topics through a cell biological and gene regulatory lens. In the lab, we will primarily work with the bat star Patiria miniata, but also with local sea urchin species that we will collect locally from Vineyard Sound (weather and spawning season permitting). Students will learn essential cell biological and embryological techniques including gamete and embryo/larval culture, staining, microinjection, live imaging, and cutting-edge approaches in CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. Students will conduct independent embryology projects focusing on marine invertebrate reproduction and embryogenesis.
J. Rosenthal jrosenthal@mbl.edu
"Neurogenetics: Genetic information in the brains of cephalopods"
The coleoid cephalopods (squids, octopuses and cuttlefishes) display the most complex behaviors of all invertebrates. The number of neurons in their nervous systems, and the behaviors they are used to control, are comparable to those of mammals, despite the half billion years of independent evolution. To help us understand the cephalopod brain, there’s no better place to start than with its blueprint within the genome and how this information is encoded. This course focuses on genetic information. It will explore the novel gene families within the recently sequenced cephalopod genomes and then cover how the information from these genes can be systematically edited as it passes through messenger RNA, often in a manner that is dependent on the external environment. Finally, we will examine how these genetic novelties result in proteins that operate in different ways. Lab exercises will range from tracking RNA editing enzymes within cells using immunostaining and advanced microscopy, examining mRNA editing patterns across neuronal tissues using PCR and DNA sequencing, and testing the functional effects of RNA editing on ion channels using electrophysiological recordings. Students will conduct independent projects in these areas during the final week of the course. Cephalopod neurogenetics is in its infancy, giving students access to an area of current, novel discovery.
A. Gillis agillis@mbl.edu
"Biodiversity: Exploring the Marine Diversity of Woods Hole Using Molecular Tools"
This course presents an overview of the diversity of living organisms, including archaea, bacteria, single-celled eukaryotes, fungi, plants, and animals, with an emphasis on their evolutionary histories, relationships, and the biological and evolutionary implications of the characteristic features of each group. We will explore how these different lineages have evolved remarkable solutions to challenges in locomotion, metabolism, and life in extreme environments. Work in the lab will take advantage of the diversity of organisms that live around, or are maintained at, The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.
R. Hanlon rhanlon@mbl.edu
"Dynamic Camoflauge: Behavior, Visual Perception and Neural Skin Patterning in Cephalopods"
This course takes an integrative approach to understanding a neurally controlled system of dynamic defense against visual predators. Camouflage is a widespread form of defense throughout the animal kingdom in every known habitat - land or sea. In the oceans, cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus, squid) have evolved a sophisticated sensorimotor system called Rapid Adaptive Coloration, which can instantaneously change their total body appearance within a fraction of a second to range from highly camouflaged to startlingly conspicuous for a wide range of behaviors. The forms and functions of this dynamic system will be teased apart in integrative fashion in a top-down approach from ecology to organismal biology to organs, tissues and cells. The course touches on neural anatomy, sensation, visual perception (including psychophysics) and animal behavior. There are also applied biology aspects of this system that will be presented as well.
C. Geib claudiamgeib@gmail.com
Three decades ago, Carl Sagan wrote, “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.” This sentence still rings true today. There are many factors you could blame: the education system, U.S. politics, social media, misinformation, the TV news cycle, or increasingly siloed scientific fields. In reality, all of these factors play a role. Here’s another to add to the list: scientists are trained to explain their work to other scientists, but not to the public at large.
Simultaneously, most members of the public do not have the training to read and understand scientific research. Yet that does not mean the public lacks an interest in science. According to Pew Research polls, the majority of Americans are interested in learning about science, health, and technology. If scientists want to help this interested public look past misinformation, trust in research, and vote for science-based solutions, there’s one major thing they can do: learn how to communicate their science clearly and concisely, without the specialized jargon often found in scientists’ writing.