Etheostoma camurum, a state endangered fish in Illinois.
The Under Appreciated Diversity of Illinois Fishes
In addition to their typical coursework, Ichthyology students at UI create multi-media products that highlight the diversity of fishes. The 2012 and 2014 Ichthyology classes created a website for Fishes of Boneyard Creek. This creek runs directly through the campus at Urbana-Champaign. A link to the website can be found here. The 2016 class is creating videos that help explain how to use the fish key found on the website. The 2010 Ichthyology class created a series of podcasts featuring an interesting aspect of fish biology that we had discussed in class. There are many good podcasts, but my favorite is the one on the discovery of the coelacanth by Lauren Fields. A link to the website with the podcasts can be found here. My lab and the ichthyology students also put on a yearly display showing the diversity of fish in the creek for the annual 'Boneyard Creek Cleanup Day'.
In addition to their typical coursework, Ichthyology students at UI create multi-media products that highlight the diversity of fishes. The 2012 and 2014 Ichthyology classes created a website for Fishes of Boneyard Creek. This creek runs directly through the campus at Urbana-Champaign. A link to the website can be found here. The 2016 class is creating videos that help explain how to use the fish key found on the website. The 2010 Ichthyology class created a series of podcasts featuring an interesting aspect of fish biology that we had discussed in class. There are many good podcasts, but my favorite is the one on the discovery of the coelacanth by Lauren Fields. A link to the website with the podcasts can be found here. My lab and the ichthyology students also put on a yearly display showing the diversity of fish in the creek for the annual 'Boneyard Creek Cleanup Day'.
PAGES: Progressing through the Ages: Global climate change, Evolution and Societal well-being.
Evolution and Society
I work in collaboration with Barbara Hug (College Education at UI) to develop curriculum materials for teaching ecology and evolution at the K-12 level. Barbara and I were recently awarded an NIH SEPA (Science Education Partnership Award) to work with with Brian Reiser from Northwestern to develop vertically aligned curriculum units that deal with ecology, evolution, and issues related to human health. The project is called PAGES which is stands for 'Progressing through the Ages: Global climate change, Evolution and Societal well-being'. Our goal is to create units that focus on the Next Generation Science Standards in the areas of ecology, evolution, and genetics using contexts that are relevant to human health. Our units are focusing on topics such vector borne disease (via mosquitos and ticks whose ranges are changing) and an understanding of how genetic and environmental factors interact to determine phenotypes (including disease susceptibility). Click here for a link to the PAGES website.
I have also held a number of summer workshops focusing on teacher professional development and curriculum development in the area of evolution. Click here for a link to previous workshops.
I work in collaboration with Barbara Hug (College Education at UI) to develop curriculum materials for teaching ecology and evolution at the K-12 level. Barbara and I were recently awarded an NIH SEPA (Science Education Partnership Award) to work with with Brian Reiser from Northwestern to develop vertically aligned curriculum units that deal with ecology, evolution, and issues related to human health. The project is called PAGES which is stands for 'Progressing through the Ages: Global climate change, Evolution and Societal well-being'. Our goal is to create units that focus on the Next Generation Science Standards in the areas of ecology, evolution, and genetics using contexts that are relevant to human health. Our units are focusing on topics such vector borne disease (via mosquitos and ticks whose ranges are changing) and an understanding of how genetic and environmental factors interact to determine phenotypes (including disease susceptibility). Click here for a link to the PAGES website.
I have also held a number of summer workshops focusing on teacher professional development and curriculum development in the area of evolution. Click here for a link to previous workshops.
