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Immersion Courses

The Department of Biology’s Semester of Immersion offers students the opportunity to engage in research-based courses in the field and laboratory. Unlike traditional courses that meet two to three times per week, the immersion semester consists of courses that meet daily over 5 weeks, giving students the time and flexibility to get more deeply involved in the subject.

The immersion courses offer a variety of field and lab experiences, ranging from snorkeling on coral reefs to DNA extractions and epidemiology modeling. Some of these exciting new courses are highlighted below. For the complete list, visit our website.

Robotic boat equipped with sensors to study nutrient cycling in hippo pools in Kenya

Hippopotamus swimming in the distance with robotic boat in foreground

In the “Research Skills with Arduino and R” immersion course, students learn how to build their own environmental monitoring systems. The goal of this skills-based course is to learn about low-cost, open-source options for conducting lab- or field-based research. For example, students learn how to build data loggers and how to interface data sensors to the internet for real-time data collection.

Undergraduate student Erin Walsh labeling agar culture plates

Undergraduate student Erin Walsh labeling agar culture plates

In the “Molecular and Genetic Responses to Environmental Stress” immersion course, students learn how genes are regulated in response to changes in environmental conditions, and they conduct authentic research using a tiny nematode worm. Students in the inaugural 2018 immersion course recently published some of their results in the journal microPublication.

Students explore fish diversity on field trips off the coast of Florida

Man holding fish outside of boat

The “Ichthyology” immersion course allows students to explore the rich diversity of fishes living in Florida’s marine, estuarine and freshwater habitats. The course emphasizes the morphological, behavioral and ecological adaptations of fishes living in different environments.

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