Marine Microbial Ecology Course Syllabus (printable pdf)

Instructor:       Jonathan P. Zehr, Professor of Ocean Sciences
Email:             zehrj@pmc.ucsc.edu
Office Hours:  Monday 10:00-11:00 a.m. or by appointment
                       Earth and Marine Sciences Building A438

Lecture Course Numbers: OCEA118, BIOL171, OCEA218

Day/Time/Location: Tue/Thurs 12:00-1:45 p.m. Natural Sciences Annex room 102

Course Website:  http://es.ucsc.edu/~wwwzehr/microbial.html

Course Description from UCSC catalog

The study of marine bacteria and their role in the marine ecosystem. Emphasis on biochemistry and physiology in relation to metabolic activity and elemental cycles, trophic interactions and flows of material and energy in marine food webs. Exams and term paper required. Students cannot receive credit for this course and course 218. (Students may receive credit for only one of OCEA118, BIOL171 or OCEA218 courses).

Prerequisites:             Biology 20B and Chemistry 1C

Instruction Level, Goals and Format: This is an upper division undergraduate and graduate level course for Biology and Ocean Science Majors. The graduate course fulfills a Core requirement in Biological Oceanography for the Ocean Sciences graduate program. The course is designed to introduce the student to principles of microbial ecology, with emphasis on the marine environment.

Reading

The suggested reading is on reserve at the Science & Engineering LIbrary and will be available at the Baytree Bookstore (by April 3rd). There will be two class meetings per week. The instructor or guest lecturers will give lectures covering material that is from the readings.

Undergraduate course (BIOL 171, OCEA 118)

1. Exams: There will be two exams, equally weighted for evaluation. These will be short answer and short essay conceptual exams. The final exam will be comprehensive, but will emphasize the last topics covered. The exam material will be based on lecture material.

2. Paper Discussions: Discussion of specific research journal articles on specific topics will each be led by a group of students (preferably 2 per group) . Articles will be chosen by students from the provided recommended list on specific research topics and presented during the quarter on dates that coincide with the general lecture material. Each presentation, usually done using Microsoft Powerpoint, will be divided into parts with each student in the group presenting a different part: Introduction, Background Material, Methods Used, Results and Discussion.

All students in the class will be expected to participate in the discussion of each paper and should come to class prepared with 3 specific questions and/or comments for the discussion (specific to the paper to be discussed). These are to be handed in at the beginning of the lecture period that the paper is to be discussed. These written discussion questions will be included in the “class participation” grade.

Students may be called on in class to comment or ask a question about the paper. The groups will be expected to provide background material on concepts involved in the paper, and to provide summary handouts for the class to use in preparation for exam questions on the paper topic.

presentation sample 1
presentation sample 2
handout for presentation sample

Graduate student course (OCEA 218)

Graduate student evaluation is based on the above plus a required short research term paper.

Graduate Student Short Proposal:  Topics must be approved by the instructor by Tuesday April 15. The proposal should be 5-10 pages long and have the following sections: introduction/background, research objectives, research approach including methods, and references. Proposals must include at least 10 references, with at least 5 from research papers in published journals (not textbooks or from the web).

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Evaluation: Evaluation is based on 2 exams, paper presentations, class participation, and for graduate students the additional short proposal. Breakdown of grades is shown below.

Undergraduate students: 30% for each exam, 20% for the paper presentation, 10% for discussion session questions, 10% for class participation.

Graduate students: 30% for each exam, 15% for the paper presentation, 10% for class participation, and 15% for the research proposal.

SCHEDULE
updated 4/17/08

See the additional READING list for articles for student presentations - assume that you must read these BEFORE the class presentation.