Uga Spring Courses

[Ara Kistner]

Asstudents review the Schedule of Courses for determining the best courses for their schedules, expanded section descriptions can provide additional information about these courses. Learn how to find an expanded section description.

TAP = Teacher-Advisor Program. TAP is a writing-intensive elective program for first-year students in the College of Arts and Sciences that combines an interactive course environment with careful academic advising.

A, B, C, D, etc. = Course reserved for degree students until level restrictions are removed (mid-Dec for Spring registration and first Monday in August for Fall registration). Some sections open to Continuing and Distance Education students early: please check the section comment.

Whether you want to explore a new interest, enhance your resume, or strengthen your professional skills, you can choose from thousands of regular university courses during the fall and spring semesters. You'll study alongside Cornell undergraduate and graduate students and have access to university libraries and other campus facilities.

Eligibility: Anyone high school age* and older can take fall/spring courses at Cornell, with the exception of Cornell degree candidates, who are not eligible to participate in part-time study in the fall or spring.

As a fall/spring student, you'll interact closely with world-class faculty and study alongside Cornell undergraduate and graduate students. This diverse population is here to help you push yourself and your ideas further than you could ever push them on your own.

Please contact Amanda Cole if you are thinking about coming to the Marine Lab in Beaufort for the spring. Housing assignments are automatic with your registration at the Marine Lab. Information about residence life and move-in will be provided after registration.

Research Independent Study: Download the Spring Research Independent Study Options (PDF). Interested students should contact potential advisors to identify a project. When an advisor and project are finalized, Gwendy Womble can send you a permission number.

The Marine Lab's spring semester start/end dates and residence hall move-in/move-out dates may differ from the Duke academic calendar. Please consult the Duke Marine Lab Academic Calendar for important spring semester dates.

An introduction to the biodiversity represented by major marine invertebrate groups, with emphasis on the diversity of body forms and behaviors and on anatomical structures and functions. Field trips primarily by boat allow students to explore invertebrates characteristic of a variety of coastal habitats in North Carolina, including mud flats, sandy beaches, salt marshes, oyster reefs, piers and docks, and the water column. Live invertebrates maintained in the laboratory serve as models for detailed study of form and function. Taught at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort.

Discusses patterns of abundance, diversity and activity of organisms in major ocean ecosystems. Identifies major physical, chemical and ecological processes that affect these patterns, and analyzes impact of biology on ecosystems. Uses a 'flipped' classroom for enhanced development of quantitative skills to measure these patterns, emphasizing hands-on data collection and analyses, multiple field trips aboard DUML research vessels, and participatory activities to demonstrate core concepts in biological oceanography. Taught at Duke Marine Lab. Spring section requires travel. Recommended intro bio or AP Bio credit. Instructor consent required, visit DUML website for details.

Essential biology of sea turtles (evolution, anatomy, physiology, behavior, life history, population dynamics) and their conservation needs; emphasis on their role in marine ecosystem structure and function. Basic ecological concepts integrated with related topics including the conservation and management of endangered species, the contributions of technology to the management of migratory marine species, the role of research in national and international law and policy, and the veterinary aspects of conservation.

This course will examine management of coastal watersheds and their biological function, focusing on the positive (restoration) and negative (degradation, eutrophication) ways that humans alter ecosystems. Local field trips are an integral part of this class to examine anthropogenic modifications to coastal ecosystems (e.g. farms, wetland restoration) as well as discussing these issues with stakeholders at NGOs, businesses and government. Taught at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort.

Experiential education course on community-based conservation. Students learn first-hand about the challenges (accomplishments, failures, and promises) involved in its design and practice in developing countries of high biological diversity. Learn about the unique natural and political history, and social characteristics of the places where conservation takes place. Students link local context to broader perspectives through key readings and class discussions.

Physiology of marine animals with emphasis on comparisons between marine vertebrates and humans. Focus on physiological processes including gas exchange, circulation, osmoregulation, metabolism, thermoregulation, endocrine, neural control and sensory systems. Lectures and laboratories illustrate the methodology, analysis techniques, and written reporting of physiological research.) This course fulfills the structure/function requirement for Biology majors and the Organismal Structure/Function requirement for Environmental Science majors (BS) and the marine science section for Environmental Science and Policy Majors (AB). Taught at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort.

This course is designed for students in marine and environmental science disciplines to learn data analysis skills, including analysis techniques and their implementation using MATLAB or R. Topics include: discrete sampling issues, data outlier and rejection tests, interpolation and gridding, error and propagation of uncertainty, coordinate rotations and principal axes, curve fits, regression, bootstrapping, filtering, spectral and harmonic analysis, spatial analyses. Other topics may be included or substituted depending on student interests. The course is structured as mix of weekly lectures and linked workshops applying methods to marine and environmental data sets. Taught in Beaufort at Duke Marine Lab. Instructor consent is required.

Includes a full overview of past and emerging applications for ecology and biology of marine species and coastal habitats with in-depth discussion on future of drone applications in coastal biological and ecological research. Comprehensive exploration of current drone technologies, including detection limits of target species, payload selection, operational procedures aeronautical concepts, rules and regulations, safety, mission planning, aircraft design, maintenance, data collection, management and analysis. Biological and technical lab components tailored to student interests:

The use of unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) is changing how marine scientists collect data on animals and the environments they inhabit. This course introduces students to the basics of using UAS in marine environments, presenting examples of existing and emerging applications, detailing the types of sensors used for marine applications, describes the sampling complexities of the marine environment, and provides and overview of typical workflows and data management. Details on regulatory and permitting requirements to fly UAS and legally and safely are also covered. The lab portion of the course will focus on basic aeronautics, flight planning and simulations, and the design, assembly, operation and maintenance of unoccupied aerial vehicles. Check out Duke's Unoccupied Aircraft Facility website :

Fundamentals of marine bioacoustics with a focus on current literature and conservation issues. Topics include: introduction to acoustics; acoustic analysis methods and quantitative tools; production and recording of sound; ocean noise; propagation theory; active and passive acoustics; hearing, sound production and communication in marine organisms, potential impacts of anthropogenic noise; and regulation of marine sound. Labs will focus on methodologies used for generating, recording and analyzing marine sounds. Taught in Beaufort at Duke Marine Lab. Prerequisite: AP Biology, introductory biology, or consent of instructor; Physics 141L or 164L (or equivalent Physics courses) or consent of instructor.

Distribution, abundance, and diversity of marine organisms, including a survey of the major flora and fauna in the marine environment, including physical characteristics, adaptation to environment, species interactions, biogeography, larval recruitment, and biodiversity and conservation of communities found in rocky shores, tidal flats, beaches, marshes, mangrove, coral reefs, and subtidal areas. Lectures, field excursions, lab exercises and an independent project.

Principles, structure, and process of public policy-making for marine fisheries. Topics include local, regional, national, and international approaches to the management of marine fisheries. A social systems approach is used to analyze the biological, ecological, social, and economic aspects of the policy and management process. Taught in Beaufort at Duke Marine Lab.

Current sequencing technologies have revolutionized the fields of molecular, evolutionary, and ecological genetics. The ability to generate an entire genome worth of sequence data in a single instrument run allows us to study whole genomes in a variety of non-model organisms. In this course, we will use the genomes of marine mammals to explore the field of genomics. The course will start out with basic genomics (ie. Genome-101), move on to sequencing technologies and bioinformatics, and then explore conservation, ecological and evolutionary genetics of marine mammals using the literature and publicly available datasets.

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