Bryan^CCarstens

Biological Sciences 3400: Evolution CXC (Communications Intensive) (3 credits) Topics covered: This course details research that provides the best evidence for the fact of evolution, and provides students with the theory that explains how evolution occurs. A particular focus is placed on the genetic processes that occur within populations, particularly those that contribute to local adaptation and population divergence. The history of the anti-evolution movement with a particular focus on Louisiana is also a topic of discussion.



Biological Sciences 7800-7: Computational Phylogenetics & Phylogeography (3 credits) Topics covered: Hypothesis Testing Using Phylogenies, Coalescent Simulations & Phylogeographic Hypothesis Testing, Likelihood Methods, Probability theory, Information theory, Estimating Gene Flow & Other Parameters under Coalescent Models, Experimental Design / Power Analyses, Species Tree Estimation, Species Delimitation, Approximate Bayesian Computation, Testing for Simultaneous Divergence, Demographic Model Selection, Population Structure, Population Graphs.


Biological Sciences 4299: Genetics of the Evolutionary Process (3 credits) Topics covered: Principles of microevolution; emphasis on genetic and ecological mechanisms relevant to the process of evolution. This course is a one semester survey of the theory of evolution and the genetic data that have been used to test, refine and expand this theory. The course is taught using lectures and a series of classic readings from the primary literature. We begin with population genetics and papers written during the synthesis of Mendelian genetics and Darwinian natural selection, continue with work inspired by advances in molecular genetics that occurred throughout the last century (such as neutral theory and coalescent theory), and conclude with modern speciation genetics and genomics.