Anna Edlund

Description with small clarity edits: Patterns found in living organisms¿including spirals, stripes, branches, concentric circles, and spots of all sorts¿self-organize in space and time. Developmental biologists, modelers, and designers have long explored these patterns. In this seminar, we will read experimental and review articles about how biological patterns form. Students will keep journals, and groups will present and lead class discussions on examples of different patterns. The scientific findings we discuss are ones that often inform sustainable design and biomimicry in engineering.
Readings are published experimental and review articles in the field of Biological Pattern Formation, chosen by the presenting student groups, with guidance from the professor. Each seminar will focus on one pattern, for example spirals, with several articles presented, perhaps on shells, inner ear cochlea, or ram's horns.
Student groups will present clusters of articles and guide class discussion; those students not presenting participate in the discussion and keep journals. A written, final paper is completed by each student on their choice of pattern.

Description with small clarity edits: Patterns found in living organisms¿including spirals, stripes, branches, concentric circles, and spots of all sorts¿self-organize in space and time. Developmental biologists, modelers, and designers have long explored these patterns. In this seminar, we will read experimental and review articles about how biological patterns form. Students will keep journals, and groups will present and lead class discussions on examples of different patterns. The scientific findings we discuss are ones that often inform sustainable design and biomimicry in engineering.
Readings are published experimental and review articles in the field of Biological Pattern Formation, chosen by the presenting student groups, with guidance from the professor. Each seminar will focus on one pattern, for example spirals, with several articles presented, perhaps on shells, inner ear cochlea, or ram's horns.
Student groups will present clusters of articles and guide class discussion; those students not presenting participate in the discussion and keep journals. A written, final paper is completed by each student on their choice of pattern.

This course in an introduction to the structures and functions of eukaryotic cells. Cells are the un-splittable, elemental ¿atoms¿ of life, and all of them share DNA, RNA, proteins and membranes in common. In this class, lecture and laboratory exercises will be mixed to explore molecular compositions, energy transformations, cell division, and replication and expression of genetic material within cells.
Readings will be from the text Campbell Biology: Concepts and Connections, 9th ed. Reece, Taylor et al. (students will not need to buy this textbook). To explore the interplay between personal, societal, historical and scientific perspectives on Cell Biology, several movies will also be viewed and discussed, including 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' and 'Three Identical Strangers.'
Students will submit journal entries, laboratory notes, as well as answers to frequent review questions. There will be two mid-terms. Students will select a subject of personal meaning related to Cell Biology and will design a public-facing artwork, photomicrograph, infographic, zine, or public service announcent that shares the structures, functions and/or stories of their subject.

This course in an introduction to the structures and functions of eukaryotic cells. Cells are the un-splittable, elemental ¿atoms¿ of life, and all of them share DNA, RNA, proteins and membranes in common. In this class, lecture and laboratory exercises will be mixed to explore molecular compositions, energy transformations, cell division, and replication and expression of genetic material within cells.
Readings will be from the text Campbell Biology: Concepts and Connections, 9th ed. Reece, Taylor et al. (students will not need to buy this textbook). To explore the interplay between personal, societal, historical and scientific perspectives on Cell Biology, several movies will also be viewed and discussed, including 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' and 'Three Identical Strangers.'
Students will submit journal entries, laboratory notes, as well as answers to frequent review questions. There will be two mid-terms. Students will select a subject of personal meaning related to Cell Biology and will design a public-facing artwork, photomicrograph, infographic, zine, or public service announcent that shares the structures, functions and/or stories of their subject.

The explanation of complex biological concepts, testing of predictions, and the presentation data all often rely on visual representations of phenomena. In this course students examine how scientists use graphs, models, and imaging technologies to both assist scientific research as well as communicate their ideas clearly as part of 'scientific method.' Students enter the process by picking a biological concept or question, analyzing its methods and representation, and developing their own independent project.

A newly fertilized egg has none of its later adult features; these emerge through interplay between external and internal forces. We will explore how embryos take shape, generate patterns, and also evolve novelty. Our discussions of creation in the context of evolution and embryology, will be enriched by laboratory exercises and several projects on fate, chance, and necessity during deep time and in a single lifetime.