Biological Sciences (BIOS)

Description: Completion of a standardized cumulative examination, an exit interview and other assessment activities.

Description: An orientation to the Biological Sciences Major. Introduction to advising and university services, study skills, professionalism, community building, and career development.

Description: Analysis of the structure, functions, and interactions of organisms from the molecular to the ecosystem levels.

Description: Laboratory exercises and experiments that complement material covered in BIOS 101.

Description: Introduction to biology with a focus on organization of molecules and cells to the level of human body systems; basic structure (anatomy) and function (physiology) of human tissues, organs and organ systems; reproduction, genetics; DNA technology and genetic engineering.

Description: Hands-on lab exercises to understand biological concepts of human organization from molecules to cells to the body systems, basic structure and function of human tissues, organs, organ systems, reproduction, genetics, as well as DNA technology and genetic engineering.

Description: Comparative study of microorganisms important for human health and disease (bacteria, fungi, viruses, prions), principles and applications of microbiology.

Description: Fundamental insect biology (anatomy, development, physiology, behavior, ecology and diversity). Economic and medical importance of insects and principles of insect pest management.

Description: Identification of representative orders and families of insects by their anatomy, metamorphosis, habits and habitats. Sight recognition emphasized but dichotomous keys also used. Interrelation of insect and habitats stressed.

Description: Perform original research by using the scientific method to isolate a virus that infects a harmless bacterium (bacteriophage) from local soil samples. Lab skills acquired include pipetting, aseptic technique, and serial dilutions; use basic DNA and electron microscopy analyses to characterize the phage.

Description: Build on an original project involving isolation of a virus that infects a harmless bacterium (bacteriophage) using bioinformatic tools to analyze and annotate the sequenced bacteriophage genome.

Description: An exploration of biological sciences for undergraduates in the Biological Sciences Learning Community. Topics vary.

Description: Topic varies.

Description: Series of lab exercises to introduce principles of genetic, molecular and cellular biology. Experiments done using model systems to identify, map and clone genes; analyze gene products and expression; and fractionate cell components.

Description: Inheritance and regulation of genes in organisms and populations. Fundamentals of genomics and bioinformatics.

Description: Introduction to the principles and processes of ecology and evolution. Structure and dynamics of populations and communities; biotic and abiotic interactions; mechanisms of evolutionary change; natural selection; adaptation; and speciation.

Description: Elementary survey of the basic functional systems of the human body: the muscular, nervous, receptor, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, excretory, endocrine, and reproductive systems.

Description: Laboratory exercises and experiments that complement material covered in BIOS 213.

Description: Introduction to the major organ systems of the human body including skeletal, major muscle, nervous, digestive, circulatory, excretory, and reproductive systems. Anatomical structures as they pertain to clinical anatomy.

Description: Topics vary.

Description: Independent work directed by faculty.

Description: Introduction to the principles of toxicology as they apply to environmental contaminants, agri-chemicals, and industrial and naturally occurring chemicals.

Description: The design, execution, and evaluation of scientific experiments that advance the knowledge of cell and molecular biology.

Description: Molecular biology of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Review of the experimental basis for the principles of the discipline.

Description: Reviews of current literature of general interest; reports of research activities by staff and guest speakers.

Description: Microbial cell structure, genetics, metabolic and biosynthetic activity, diversity, ecology and evolution including host-microbe interactions.

Description: Traditional microbiology techniques without recombinant DNA methods.

Description: Introduction to the basic principles and concepts of the biology of plants. Adaptive variation and biodiversity of plants considering the relationships of plant structure to function integrating across succeeding levels of organization: molecule, cell, tissue, organism, organism, population, community, and ecosystem.

Description: Fundamental concepts in virology including basic features of structure, evolution, diseases, replication cycles and virus-host interactions.

Description: Provides a broad overview of bioinformatics. Shows how bioinformatics can help solving problems in biological research. Covered topics: biological databases, molecular biology tools, sequence comparison methods, phylogenetic inference, and molecular graphics.

Description: Introduction to the use of plants in traditional and alternative medicine, nutrition, and wellness. Examination of the biological, historical, and cultural origins of plant medicinal compounds used to enhance wellness or treat human diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. Consideration of the social and ethical consequences of the development of plant-derived drugs, use of herbal remedies in wellness and nutrition and of other emerging issues associated with plants in human medicine.

Description: Comparative study of the morphology and natural history of invertebrate animals; emphasis on phylogenetic relationships.

Description: Introduction to behavioral neurobiology research, theory, and practice as well as to the scientists and the ongoing research conducted across this field.

Description: Emphasis on parasitic diseases of humans. Impact of parasitism on societies considered in addition to the clinical consequences for infected individuals. Means of transmission, diagnosis, and treatment considered in respect to recent technological advances in production of monoclonal antibodies and genetic engineering. Nature and biological significance of parasitism are viewed in terms of prospects for control.

Description: Evolutionary origin and relationships, natural history, and ecological adaptations of vertebrates. Comparative form and function, particularly of bone and muscle systems among and the diversity within vertebrate groups.

Description: Combination of work outside the University and academic work in biological sciences arranged through the Career Services Office.

Description: A structured training experience in the professional skills used by teaching and learning assistants in life science laboratories, recitations and lectures.

Description: A combination of academic work and instruction in the anatomy or physiology laboratories in biological sciences: cadaver dissection or work with physiological equipment; assist in the instruction of anatomical and physiological concepts.

Description: Exploring the biology of plant pathogens, pathogen-host plant interactions, and environmental influences on plant diseases. Examining cultural, chemical, and biological strategies, along with host resistance, for plant disease management. Builds on topics covered in PLPT 210, with additional emphasis on the strategies employed by the four major groups of plant pathogens, plant responses to disease-causing organisms, and approaches to disease management.

Description: Principles of cancer genetics, cancer prevention, and new methods for diagnosis and therapy. Fundamentals of the cell and molecular events that lead to human cancer.

Description: Biotic and abiotic factors as they influence insect development, behavior, distribution, and abundance.

Description: Microscopic anatomy of the tissues and organs of major vertebrate species, including humans. Normal cellular arrangements of tissues and organs as related to their macroscopic anatomy and function, with reference to sub-cellular characteristics and biochemical processes. Functional relationships among cells, tissues, organs and organ systems, contributory to organismal well being. General introduction to pathological processes and principles underlying some diseases.

Description: Genetic basis of human variation, with emphasis on methods of applying genetic principles to humankind. Genetic ratios in pooled data; population and quantitative genetics; consanguinity; polygenic inheritance; blood types; sex linkage; linkage and crossing over; sex determination; visible chromosome variation; mutation; heredity and environment; eugenics; anthropological genetics; molecular genetics and molecular basis of disease; human genome project.

Description: Basic conservation science theory and conservation decision making tools which are essential for making effective decisions for biodiversity conservation. Topics include systematic conservation planning, population viability analysis, risk assessment, and applying those tools to real conservation problems.

Description: In-depth study of the principles and methodology of genetics, with emphasis on Drosophila: multiple alleles and complex loci, linkage and recombination, chromosome rearrangements, fine structure analysis, sex determination, recombinant DNA, and gene function in development.

Description: Molecular basis of genetics. Gene structure and regulation, transposable elements, chromosome structure, DNA replication, and repair mechanisms and recombination.

Description: Diversity of microbial cell composition, structure, and function enabling movement, metabolism, symbiosis, and adaptation using bacterial, fungal, algal, and viral examples. A physiological, biochemical and molecular approach used throughout.

Description: Comprehensive survey of comparative physiology with emphasis on the diversity of adaptations in basic physiological systems and the effects of environmental parameters upon such systems. Comparative physiology of osmoregulation, temperature regulation, metabolism, muscle, central nervous function, and sensory function.

Description: Physiological adaptations in ecological and evolutionary context.

Description: Analysis and interpretation of the Quaternary period's paleoecological data. Patterns of long-term climate variation. Distribution patterns and responses of organisms and ecosystems to Quaternary environmental change.

Description: Chemical cycling at or near the earth's surface, emphasizing interactions among the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere and hydrosphere. Modern processes, the geological record, and human impacts on elemental cycles.

Description: Introduction to the use of plants for basic and applied purposes by deliberate manipulation of their genomes; techniques in plant genetic engineering; manipulations of plant development and metabolism; engineering pest, disease, and stress resistance; plants as bioreactors; and environmental and social impacts of plant biotechnology.

Description: Fundamentals of the analysis of high throughput experiments to understand complex biological systems. Principles and methods such as next generation sequencing, protein-protein interaction networks, regulatory networks, and biological data mining and integration. Emerging research in new biotechnology and data analysis in biomedical and life sciences.

Description: Basic knowledge and skills needed for general bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics analyses. Various computational analyses including database search, sequence alignment, phylogenetic reconstruction, gene prediction/mining, microarray data analyses and protein structure analyses.

Description: Principles of phylogenetic inference and emphasis on the application of phylogenetic hypotheses in biology and the biomedical sciences. How inferences derived from phylogenetic trees can be applied in different areas of biological investigation including systematics, biogeography, conservation biology, molecular evolution, genome structure, epidemiology, population biology, ecology, character evolution, behavior, and macroevolution.

Description: Introduction to science communication, formal versus informal science education, and best practices in informal science education. Review of state and national science standards and how students learn. Introduction to informal science practitioners and facilities in Nebraska. Role playing and development and implementation of hands on, inquiry-based science activities. Training in evaluation and assessment.

Description: Structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids; nature of enzymes; major metabolic pathways of catabolism; and biochemical energy production.

Description: Major metabolic pathways of anabolism, structural and biochemical aspects of biological information flow and use in biotechnology.

Description: Introduction to techniques used in biochemical and biotechnology research, including measurement of pH, spectroscopy, analysis of enzymes, chromatography, fractionation of macromolecules, electrophoresis, and centrifugation.

Description: Biochemical metabolism unique to plants. Relationships of topics previously acquired in general biochemistry to biochemical processes unique to plants. Biochemical mechanisms behind physiological processes discussed in plant or crop physiology.

Description: Application of evolutionary tools to biomedical questions. Managing the evolution of drug resistance and pathogen virulence. Evolutionary principles of vaccine design. Emerging infectious disease. Human evolutionary history. Life-history trade-offs in human evolution. Parent-offspring and parent-parent conflict. Mismatch hypothesis. Hygiene hypothesis.

Description: Species-area relationships, latitudinal gradients in species richness, abundance diversity relationships, ecological scaling relationships with body size, community assembly, evolutionary dynamics, climate change, and human impacts on the ecology of the Anthropocene.

Description: Methods approach to systems biology analysis. Molecular identification and quantification employing techniques such as mass spectrometry, chromatography, electrophoretic fractionation, transcriptomics, protemics and metabolomics. Data and pathway analysis with computational methods.

Description: To introduce and integrate, students in biochemistry and other life sciences, to the field of computational modeling of biochemical and biological network systems into a seamless curriculum.

Description: Molecular approaches to the study of prokaryotic cell structure and physiology, including growth, cell division, metabolism, and alternative microbial life styles.

Description: Fundamental principles involved in host-microorganism interrelationships. Identification of pathogens, isolation, propagation, mode of transmission, pathogenicity, symptoms, treatment, prevention of disease, epidemiology, and methods of control.

Description: Mammalian endocrine glands from the standpoint of their structure, their physiological function in relation to the organism, the chemical nature and mechanisms of action of their secretory products, and the nature of anomalies manifested with their dysfunction.

Description: Fundamental consideration of cellular and humoral mechanisms of immunity, the structure and function of immunoglobulins, antigen-antibody interactions; hypersensitivity; transplantation and tumor immunity; immune and autoimmune disorders.

Description: An introduction into the role that microorganisms play and have played in natural and man-made environments. Topics covered include microbial diversity and physiology in soil, sediment, and water; microbes in Earth history; biogeochemical cycling; mineral formation and dissolution; biodegradation and bioremediation; biotechnology.

Description: Nature, physiology, and interactions of microorganisms in foods. Introduction to food-borne diseases, the effect of food processing systems on the microflora of foods, principles of food preservation, food spoilage, and foods produced by microorganisms. Food plant sanitation and criteria for establishing microbial standards for food products.

Description: The microorganisms in foods and the methods used to study them.

Description: Principles of population dynamics. Management strategies (for consumptive and nonconsumptive fish and wildlife species) presented utilizing principles developed.

Description: Overview of the key traits, relationships and evolutionary dynamics of invertebrate animals over Earth's history, particularly over the Phanerozoic (i.e., the last 540 million years). Emphasis on the use of invertebrate fossil record to test ideas about long term evolutionary patterns as well as learning the histories and basic anatomies of major invertebrate taxa.

Description: Principles of epidemiology and the role in modern medicine. Combination of theory and practice with living populations.

Description: Conservation and management of native and invasive predators. Functional and numerical responses. Evolution of predator-prey interactions. Optimal foraging. Modeling predator-prey population dynamics. Trophic cascades. Prey defenses against predation.

Description: Nature and characteristics of populations and communities. Interactions within and between populations in community structure and dynamics. Direct and indirect interactions and ecological processes, competition, predation, parasitism, herbivory, and pollination. Structure, functioning and persistence of natural communities, foodweb dynamics, succession, and biodiversity.

Description: Biological systems, from molecules to ecosystems, are analyzed using mathematical techniques. Strengths and weaknesses of mathematical approaches to biological questions. Brief review of college level math; introduction to modeling; oscillating systems in biology; randomness in biology; review of historically important and currently popular models in biology.

Description: Processes controlling the cycling of energy and elements in ecosystems and how both plant and animal species influence them. Human-influenced global and local changes that alter these cycles and ecosystem functioning.

Description: Physical, chemical and biological processes that occur in wetlands; the hydrology and soils of wetland systems; organisms occurring in wetlands and their ecology wetland creation, delineation, management and ecotoxicology.

Description: Physical, chemical, and biological processes that occur in fresh water. Organisms occurring in fresh water and their ecology; biological productivity of water and its causative factors; eutroplication and its effects.

Description: Soil from a microbe's perspective-growth, activity and survival strategies; principles governing methods to study microorganisms and biochemical processes in soil; mechanisms controlling organic matter cycling and stabilization with reference to C, N, S, and P; microbial interactions with plants and animals; and agronomic and environmental applications of soil microorganisms.

Description: Introduction to animal behavior stressing the ethological approach. Anatomical and physiological bases of behavior, ontogenetic and phylogenetic observations, and the relations of animal behavior studies to genetics, ecology, taxonomy, and evolution.

Description: Relationship of physiological variables to behavior, an introduction to laboratory techniques in neuropsychology.

Description: Examination of current technologies and methodologies used in neuroscience pertaining to medical, laboratory, and industrial applications across several organisms.

Description: Overview of the diversity of plants and algae, with emphasis on phylogenetic relationships, the evolution of important physical and genomic characteristics, principles of plant classification and identification, and modern methods of plant molecular systematics. Lab work on taxonomic analysis and plant identification.

Description: The principles and processes of micro- and macroevolution. Mechanisms behind evolutionary change and examples of these processes in a wide variety of organisms.

Description: Fossil and living amphibians and reptiles. Anatomy, classification, ecology and evolution.

Description: Biology of birds emphasizing the behavior and ecology of this group. Topics include avian diversity, systematics & evolutionary history, flight, foraging, migration, communication, reproductive biology, population ecology and conservation biology.

Description: Avian field identification in diverse prairie, riparian, and montane habitats. Individual studies of foraging behavior, territoriality, anti-predator behavior, mating systems, or nesting ecology.

Description: Evolution, natural history, ecology, and functional morphology of planetary mammals and mammals of the Northern Great Plains.

Description: Pairwise and multiple alignments, sequence similarity and domain search, distance estimation, phylogenetic methods, gene mining, protein classification and structure. Algorithms used in bioinformatics as well as fundamental concepts of molecular evolution that underlie various bioinformatics methods.

Description: Development, structure, and function of tissues and organs of the higher plants. Relationships of structure to physiology and ecology of plants.

Description: Ecology and evolutionary biology of living arachnids.

Description: Fundamental physical drivers operating in stream and river ecosystems and how those vary in space and time. Major classes of organisms associated with stream ecosystems and their functional roles. Fundamental controls on biotic diversity in stream and river ecosystems and its variance. Major aspects of stream ecosystem function including energy flow and nutrient cycling. Ecosystem services provided by stream and river ecosystems and causes and consequences of human impacts on streams and rivers. Underlying principles of bioassessment and current methods of stream restoration.

Description: Biology and ecology of aquatic insects.

Description: Identification of aquatic insects to the family level.

Description: Animal host-parasite relationships, epizootiology, ecology, host distribution, classification, and life cycle stages of animal parasites.

Description: Fishes, their taxonomy, physiology, behavior, and ecology. Dynamics of fish stocks and factors regulating their production.

Description: Topics vary.

Description: Independent study and laboratory or field investigation of a specific problem.

Description: Independent research leading to a thesis.

Description: Independent research leading to an honors thesis.