Instructor: Dr. Jacob Cooper

Course topics include Mendelian genetics, evolution, biodiversity of life forms, ecology, and conservation biology. Open to all students interested in biology whether intending to major in the biological sciences or enroll in preprofessional programs.

Textbook required:  Freeman’s Biological Science, and the 5th, 6th, or 7th editions are all acceptable.

Notes for UW students:
• This course fulfills a Natural World requirement.
• This course fulfills a core requirement of the Marine Biology major.
• BIOL 180 is first course in a three-quarter series: BIOL 180, BIOL 200, BIOL 220.

Instructor: Dr. Emily Carrington

A field-oriented introduction to the natural history of the Salish Sea focused on marine habitats and species of cultural and ecological importance. Students live at the Friday Harbor Labs, allowing immersive learning on the shores of the San Juan Islands. Lectures, field trips and lab exercises develop observational skills and knowledge of coastal organisms and their relationships with the environment. Human impacts are also discussed.

This course will provide students an opportunity to learn about the wide variety of ecosystems found in the Salish Sea through the study of geomorphology, oceanography, distributions of marine plants, animals and other life forms and the unique habitats that support them. Students will become proficient at applying material learned in lecture to first-hand observations to interpret spatial and temporal patterns in nature, species composition and the structure and function of Salish Sea biomes. Students will be able to evaluate how these are changing in response to increased anthropogenic influences and climate change. The course topic is timely, as we enter the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

Discussion topics will include physical geography/geomorphology, coastal oceanography, plant and animal taxonomy, morphology and adaptations for specific biomes, with an emphasis on the marine realm and species/habitats with strong ecological, cultural and/or economic importance. Through lectures and field trips, students will learn about microbes, invertebrates, plankton, plants, fish, birds, mammals and humans as members of vast, complex and interconnected food webs.

Students will participate in several field trips focused on observing the natural world and learn to identify organisms found throughout the Salish Sea. Laboratory activities will explore various life history strategies of representative marine species, illustrating how different stages of an organism’s life cycle can span different biomes and are influenced by interactions with the environment and other species. Both laboratory and field exercises will lean toward observational rather than experimental methods, and will include both descriptive and quantitative techniques.

Course topics include physical geography/geomorphology, coastal oceanography, plant and animal taxonomy, morphology and adaptations for specific biomes, with an emphasis on the marine realm and species/habitats with strong ecological, cultural and/or economic importance.

Textbook required: TBD. More information will be sent to enrolled students 1 month before classes begin.

Note for UW students: This course may fulfill a Natural World requirement.

Other comments: Students will need to provide their own field/rain gear and there will be a lab fee of $130.

Instructor: Dr. Joshua Reid

This course blends lectures, guest speakers, seminar-style discussions, and field trips to uncover the Indigenous history and environment of the Salish Sea. It begins with “The Distant Past,” a unit that examines the oceanographic and natural features of the region, along with the diverse Native peoples who knew these waters by many names and encountered non-Native outsiders who arrived in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. Then it moves into a unit on “The Historic Opportunities and Challenges on the Salish Sea,” which includes topics on treaty-making in the settler-colonial spaces of Washington Territory and British Columbia, competition over fishing sites, opportunities for labor and travel, the Fish Wars of the 1960s and 1970s, and the hardening boundaries across the Salish Sea. The final unit, “The Contemporary Salish Sea,” takes a case study approach as we examine recent marine pollution and indigenous efforts at restoring salmon runs and Native technologies and practices that support a more sustainable future for the Salish Sea.

This course will be credited through the UW History Department as a 300-level course and will count toward Diversity and I & S (Individuals and Societies) Requirement credits for UW undergraduates.

The instructor for this course is Dr. Josh Reid from the University of Washington Department of History and American Indian/Native American Studies.

Instructors: Arthur Obst

This course will help students read peer-reviewed and public science writing, and understand and analyze those genres with respect to message, structure and target audience. Content will be focused on marine science and emerging issues in marine biology and ecology. Students will also engage in writing, learning to build effective science communication pieces targeted to specific audiences. Peer review, iterative editing, and both individual and team-based writing will be featured.

No textbook is required for this class.

Instructor: Dr. Deborah Giles

The Salish Sea provides the ideal backdrop to study marine mammals. This course will provide students new to the biological sciences an opportunity to learn about the wide variety of marine mammals found here and the ecosystems that support them. This course focuses on the biology and conservation of marine mammals and their habitats and the key processes that created them. Discussions will include various topics of marine mammal science and conservation including: taxonomy, morphology including adaptations for marine realm, behavior (feeding strategies, social interactions, reproduction, etc.), habitat use and range, acoustics, anthropogenic impacts, and management of threatened or endangered animals. Students will be taught how to collect marine mammal data such as behavior and population estimates, and may also participate in necropsies. There will be several field trips, both land based and boat based, focused on observing marine mammals in their natural habitats. Students should be prepared to conduct field observations in inclement weather.

The instructor for this course is Dr. Deborah Giles, Whale Researcher at the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology & Science and Research Director at Wild Orca.

There will be one lecture per week by research scientists. Attendance is obligatory for registered students wanting to gain credits, but all students are encouraged to attend.

No textbook required.