Life sciences

Course code

GEAE2514B (undergrad), under general education courses

Semesters taught

113-1, 113-2, 114-1 (offered regularly every semester)

Course description

I cover half of this general education course, focusing on the evolution of organisms and their interactions with each other and with the environments they inhabit.

The class is designed for non-biology majors and introduces students to the fascinating world of living organisms. I aim to show that life sciences are highly relatable and touch on fundamental questions related to our own existence and daily life. I also connect life sciences to other disciplines, so students from different majors can see how these ideas connect with their fields.

Here are some of the topics I will cover:

• Evolution by natural selection is a big idea. Where did it come from? Influences on Charles Darwin, including economic theories of resource competition.
• Why Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is not just about “survival of the fittest”.
• Mutation can cause cancer, yet without it long term evolution is impossible.
• Survival of the luckiest: not all evolutionary changes are adaptations; some are simply the outcome of random sampling.
• Nature vs. Nurture: If evolution acts only on genes, does choice still matter?
• To fight or not to fight? Peace benefits everyone, but why it is so hard to maintain and why doesn’t aggression take over entirely in nature?
• If evolution acts on individual rather than group survival, how can cooperation and even self-sacrificial behavior evolve?
• Why have peacocks evolved a large, colorful tail that handicaps them? How sexual selection explains “illogical” mate choice in animals.
• Will the human population continue to grow? What limits it, and how does it compare to other organisms?
• Why do animal populations cycle or fluctuate? The link to the “the butterfly effect”
• If extinction is natural, why should we save species? If survival of the fittest rules nature, why save the losers?
• The race to resource exploitation: are we doomed, or can we escape “the tragedy of the commons”? Is reducing consumption the answer?
• How close are we to climate tipping points? Why didn’t we notice them coming earlier?

Prerequisite

None. My classes are quite different from high school biology. It doesn’t matter much whether you have studied biology before.

Syllabus

• The origin of species and the tree of life
• Principles of evolution
• Animal behavior, conflicts and cooperation
• Sexual selection and evolution summary
• Population and community ecology
• The Anthropocene and conservation biology
• Exam