Track Highlight: Ecology & Evolution
The Ecology & Evolution Track for Biology Majors is the first of 3 interdisciplinary tracks that we’ll be highlighting in the newsletter over the next few months. The Ecology & Evolution Track incorporates not just Ecology and Evolutionary Biology into your studies and research opportunities, but also Environmental Science, Conservation, and Earth Science, among other disciplines. This track also substitutes more quantitative courses in place of Biological Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physics.
We sat down and talked with Track Director Dr. Cathy Pfister to see what she feels is the most exciting part of this academic pathway:
“We encourage students to explore other ecosystems, biomes, and field stations, to garner the expertise of all the scientists and researchers doing work there. This track really allows for exploration around the world, and at other institutions.”
In this spirit, the E&E Track offers students four options for fulfilling their field ecology course requirement, three of which are taught at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL). The Spring Quarter program, as part of the MBL’s Semester in Biological Discovery (SBD), the September Courses program, and the Semester in Environmental Science (SES) all facilitate courses that cover the field ecology course requirement. Whether through these offerings, or through the campus-based Ecology & Conservation course, these experiences serve as a great starting point for many of our students to have adventures at other institutions and research stations.
Kelp Forest from the surface, in coastal waters off Olympic Range National Park and the Makah Reservation in Washington State. Picture courtesy of Nicole Martinez.
After this initial taste of field work, this track connects our students with many different opportunities to satisfy their independent study requirement with field research, often during the summer. Nicole Martinez (4th Year - Pfister Lab, Wootton Lab) spent last summer on the Pacific coast of Washington State at the edge of Olympic Range National Park studying nitrate movement in kelp forests for her thesis. Her work with Dr. Pfister has also had her traveling all over Washington, to Tacoma, Olympia, and the San Juan Islands. Martinez is just one of many of our students that spends their summers somewhere out there – on the ocean, in rainforests, deserts, and wetlands, wherever their research takes them.
Tropic butterfly specimans being prepared for imaging. Image courtesy of Charlotte Wallsten.
Alternatively, students can gain their research experience via diverse opportunities in research labs here on campus. The E&E faculty covers a wide range of different interests and ecological study. Charlotte Wallsten (4th Year, Kronfrost Lab) works with tropical butterflies, studying how color vision impacts their mate choice and consequently their evolution. Luke Friedman (4th Year, Shubin Lab) studies amphibious fish and the implications of their pectoral fins on their wider physiology. Both students have dove into their research, learning tons of laboratory skills and how to work with state-of-the-art equipment for imaging and analysis.
Whether your interests are here in Chicago or somewhere off in the untamed corners of the world, Ecology & Evolution students might only be limited to their interests and imagination as to where they might end up. If you’re interested in learning more, reach out to Senior Biology Advisor Chris Andrews.
