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Graduate Seminar Courses

For more information on courses, visit the Evolution and Ecology course distinctions page.

AU2025

EEOB 8896.04
Strong Inference Science

Instructor: James Mouton
Credit: 1
Location:
Meeting day & time: 
Class# 37683

This class will (1) teach the principles and philosophy of conducting strong inference science and (2) provide students with opportunities to apply this framework to their own research. Strong inference involves a systematic approach to scientific investigation where researchers devise multiple, competing hypotheses, design experiments that can potentially falsify those hypotheses, and then rigorously test those experiments to see which hypotheses are supported or refuted. Students will develop skills related to designing new research and clearly communicating  their gap in knowledge, research questions, hypothesis.

EEOB 8896.05
Foundations of Evolution

Co instructors: Carstens/Pease
Meeting day & time: Mondays 10-12
Full semester, 2 credit hours
Class# 38182

An exploration of the central concepts of evolutionary biology and genetics through discussion and readings in the literature of foundational and modern studies. Topics will cover from classical approaches to current computational and AI analysis. 

EEOB 8896.21
Mentoring Mentors

Co-Instructors: Adams/Kulesza/Herrmann/Smock
Meeting day & time: Wednesdays 9am
Class# 38186


SP2025

EEOB 8896.04
Applying for academic jobs

Instructors: Meg Daly (daly.66@osu.edu) & Jim Hood (hood.211@osu.edu)
Credit:
Location:
Meeting day & time:
Class#

We will address aspects of this application process including preparing a CV as well as research, teaching, and statements; how to prepare an effective research talk; and what a competitive application looks like. As the seminar progresses, we will also read literature about the academic job market, discuss the requirements for different types of academic jobs, and negotiations. At the end of the seminar, we will spend time discussing other career paths.

EEOB 8896.05
Topics in Scientific Career Development 

Instructor: James Pease (pease.25@osu.edu)
credits: 1-2 units
Meeting day & time: 1st 7 weeks of semester
Location: TBD
Class# 307980

Seminar discussing topics in scientific career development with a focus on visual presentation, scientific communication, and oratory.  

EEOB 8896.07
Assessing and Monitoring Biodiversity

Instructor: Karen Goodell 
Credit: 1-2 units
Location:TBA
Meeting day & time: 1st 7 weeks of semester, Th 10AM-11:30AM
Class#35049

EEOB 8896.19
Multivariate Statistics Course

Instructors: Jacob Hopkins and Alison Bennett
Credit: 1-2 units
Location: Dulles 0016
Meeting day & time: 14 weeks, M W 12:45-2:05pm
Class#30907

Interested in using multivariate statistical methods in your research, but aren’t fan of heavy math and statistics?  This seminar will both discuss and provide practical instruction in how to appropriately use methods like ordination, PERMANOVA, factor analysis, structural equation modeling, network modeling, and CoDA methods in your research.  We will meet two days a week with Day 1 focusing on lecture and discussion of the method(s), and Day 2 focusing on how to use the method in R.  This course will not be HW intensive and will instead rely on in-class participation and a small final project for evaluation. This course will be open to all graduate students and members of the EEOB department, and will not require extensive experience in R.  Also, while some math will be discussed, this is not a math based course. 

EEOB 8896.19
Foundations of Mathematics for Ecologists

Instructor: Lindsey Bruckerhoff 
Credit: 1 Credit hour
Location: Research Center Room 124, 1314 Kinnear Rd.
Meeting day & time: 14 weeks, Thursdays, 2:45-3:45 pm
Class#29202

In this seminar, we will explore how basic mathematical and statistical concepts are applied in ecology. Examples of topics include chaos theory, random effects, Generalized Additive Models, machine learning, and other topics requested by students. This seminar will be largely discussion based. 

EEOB 8896.19  
SLiM: Simulating Evolution with Selection and Linkage

Instructor: Bryan Carstens (carstens.12@osu.edu)
Credit: 1-2 units
Location:TBD
Meeting day & time: TBD
Class# 38147

Join us in the first half of the Spring 2025 semester as we explore the data simulation package SLiM. According to its development team, SLiM is an evolutionary simulation framework that combines a powerful engine for population genetic simulations with the capability of modeling arbitrarily complex evolutionary scenarios. Simulations are configured via the integrated Eidos scripting language that allows interactive control over practically every aspect of the simulated evolutionary scenarios. The underlying individual-based simulation engine is highly optimized to enable modeling of entire chromosomes in large populations.

EEOB 8896.21 
The Culture of Science

Instructor: Mandy Slate (slate.41@osu.edu
Credit: 1 
Location: TBD
Meeting day & time: Registered students will be polled to determine a day/time before the semester starts. (full semester)
Class##31160

We will engage with weekly readings and discussion topics related to STEM Culture. Concepts discussed will be participant directed to best align with participant interests and recent events. All members of EEOB – faculty, staff, and students – are welcomed and encouraged to participate. Please reach out to Mandy Slate (slate.41@osu.edu)  with any questions.


AU2024

EEOB 8896.04 
Methods in Plant-Soil Microbial Ecology

Instructors: Steve Hovick and Mandy Slate

Interactions between plants and soil-dwelling microbes are often critical for the performance, fitness, and long-term persistence of plants, but they are notoriously difficult to study. As a result, a wealth of methods have been developed to characterize exactly how plants are affected by their soil microbes (or vice versa), and to characterize the microbial community itself. In this seminar, we will be focusing on current methods within this subfield of ecology by reading and discussing recent papers with an eye towards the methods used in them, and the pros/cons of those methods. Students will pick papers for the group to read and lead discussions about those papers. Grading will be S/U.

EEOB 8896.19 
Data Wrangling and Visualization in R

Instructors: Jim Hood (hood.211@osu.edu) and Shaley Valentine

R statistical program is a free, open-access program widely used for data management, visualization and analysis. Using R requires knowledge of its programming language. Accessible tools to effectively learn R coding language and apply functions to research questions are lacking, making learning R for data management, visualization, and analysis daunting. This seminar will walk graduate students through fundamentals of data management, wrangling, and visualization using R. We will work through materials and exercises using real data moving from introduction to R and data management, wrangling data, visualizing data, and the creation of publication quality figures using the tidyverse packages including dplyr, tidyr, and ggplot2. Functions within these packages will allow students to learn the process of moving from raw data to the creation of visualizations using summarized and derived data. Visualization aesthetics for publication-quality figures, fundamentals of data management and visualization, and appropriateness of figures and data types will be emphasized. Writing code in any language takes much practice, so the seminar is meant to provide code, explanation of code, and offer exercises where we practice editing or writing our own code and applying it to ecological datasets. 


SP2024

EEOB 8896.02
Domestication

Instructors: Susan Gershman & Ian Hamilton

Processes and patterns associated with domestication by humans and non-human animals, comparing and contrasting domestication and acclimation to anthropogenic environments, and consequences of loss of domestication (feralization).

EEOB 8896.04 (reg term)
Maximizing deep work and productivity in Ecology and Evolution.

Instructors: Jim Hood, & Steve Hovick

We will read selections from various authors (E.g., Deep Work by Cal Newport) focused on maximizing time for deep work, improving project management, and maximizing efficiency.

EEOB 8896.05 
Presentation Skills

Instructor: Robin Bagley (bagley.72@osu.edu)

Gain resources and general tips/tricks for preparing and giving presentations.

EEOB 8896.19
Current Topics in Quantitative Methods

Instructor:  Gerry Carter

EEOB8896.21

Instructor: Laura Kubatko


AU2023

EEOB 8896.04-20
Foundations of Ecology Graduate Seminar

Instructor: Dr. Stuart Ludsin

EEOB 8896.12  Molecular Ecology
Conservation Genomics

Instructor: Lisle Gibbs 

Current topics on application of genomics to conservation of biodiversity.

EEOB 8896.18
Mentoring

Instructors: Rachelle Adams and Zeynep Benderlioglu

EEOB 8896.19
Current Topics in Quantitative Methods

Instructor:  Gerry Carter 


SP2023

EEOB 8896.14
Applying for academic jobs 

Instructors: Meg Daly  and Jim Hood

EEOB 8896.19
Applied Multivariate statistics for research

Instructor: Alison Bennett and Jacob Hopkins 

EEOB 8896.19
Meta-Analysis in Evolution and Ecology

Instructor: Steve Hovick 

EEOB 8896.19
Applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence to evolutionary, ecological, and behavioral research

Instructors: Kaiya Provost and Bryan Carstens

EEOB 8896.19
“Relationships Are Complicated”: Big Data and Complex Microbial Ecological Systems

Instructor: Zakee Sabree 


Autumn 2022

EEOB 8896.05
Science Communication

Instructor: Andi Wolfe 

EEOB 8896.10
Phylogenetic Comparative Methods

Instructor: Jordan Satler


Spring 2022

EEOB 8896.05
Anthropogenic Change and Behavior

Instructors: Ian Hamilton and Susan Gershman

EEOB 8896.05
Visualizing Symbiosis

Instructor: Rachelle Adams

EEOB 8896.07 
Graduate seminar in plant-pollinator biology

Instructor: Karen Goodell

EEOB 8896.09
Current Topics in Environmental DNA (eDNA)

Instructor: Roman Lanno 
 


Autumn 2021

EEOB 8896.17
Invertebrate Zoology: Omic approaches to invertebrate biology

Instructor: Meg Daly

EEOB 8896.19
Meta-Analysis in Evolution and Ecology

Instructor: Steve Hovick

EEOB 8896.19
Current Topics in Quantitative Methods Selected topics in data analysis with R

Instructor: Gerry Carter 


Spring 2021

EEOB 8896.04 
Symbioses

Instructors: Alison Bennett, Brian Carstens, Meg Daly, Rachelle Adams, Ian Hamilton, Zakee Sabree, and Jason Slot

EEOB 8896.14
Graduate Seminar Harnessing the big data resolution in aquatic ecology: processed based modeling of environmental sensor data.

Instructor: Dr. Jim Hood, EEOB


Autumn 2020

EEOB 6620 & 6630
Scientific Writing in Evolution & Ecology: Manuscripts & Proposals

Instructor: Stu Ludsin

EEOB 8896.04
Phenotypic plasticity, adaptations, and climate change

Instructor: Libby Marschall 

EEOB 8896.12
Analyzing the Genomic Basis of Adaptations

Instructors: Lisle Gibbs and Andreas Chavez

EEOB 8896.19
New frontiers in measuring biodiversity

Instructors: Dr. Brooks Kohli and Dr. Marta Jarzyna

EEOB 8896.19
Analyzing animal social networks in R

Instructor: Gerald Carter

EEOB 8896.20

Instructor: Maria Miriti and John Freudenstein


Spring 2020

EEOB 8896.01
Functional and Evolutionary Morphology

Instructor: John Hunter

EEOB 8896.05
Digitized Data: Using museum collections to study biodiversity in the Anthropocene

Instructors: Dr. Lisa Barrow,  Dr. Bryan Carstens

EEOB 8896.12                                
Microbiome meta-analysis

Instructors: Antonino Malacrino and Alison Bennett


Autumn 2019

EEOB 8896.07
Communicating science via photography

Instructor: Andi Wolfe 

EEOB8896.12
Analyzing the Genomic Basis of Adaptations

Instructors: Lisle Gibbs and Andreas Chavez

EEOB8896.20

Instructor: Maria Miriti


Spring 2019

EEOB 5194
Group Studies: Evolutionary Ecology

Instructors: Ian Hamilton and Gerry Carter

EEOB 5797
Tropical Behavioral Ecology and Evolution in Panama

Instructors: Rachelle Adams and Gerry Carter

EEOB 6330
Phylogenetic Methods

Instructors: John Freudenstein and Laura Kubatko

EEOB 8896.01 
Taste and smell in arthropods

Instructor: Norm Johnson

EEOB 8896.02
Tropical Research Proposal Writing

Instructors: Rachelle Adams and Gerry Carter

EEOB8896.04
Global biodiversity and macroecology

Instructor: Marta Jarzyna

EEOB 8896.09
Ecotoxicology

Instructor: Roman Lanno

EEOB 8896.12
Introduction to Methods in Genome Analysis

Instructors: Alexander Ochoa, Lisle Gibbs, Michael Broe

EEOB 8896.15
Topics in Population Genetics and Phylogenetics

Instructor: Laura Kubatko,  and Paul Fuerst

EEOB 8896.19
Quantitative Methods: Multivariate Statistics  

Instructor: Dr. Stuart Ludsin, Ben Marcek


Autumn 2018

EEOB 8896.04-190
Graduate Writing Seminar I

Instructor: Ian Hamilton

EEOB 8896.04-290
Graduate Writing Seminar II

Instructor: Ian Hamilton

EEOB 8896.10
Comparative phylogeography

Instructor: Bryan Carstens


Spring 2018

EEOB 8896.10
The practice of taxonomy and nomenclature

Instructor: Marymegan Daly

EEOB 8896.11 Graduate Seminar
Effects of climate change on populations and communities

Instructor: Allison Snow

EEOB 8896.14 Graduate Seminar
Climate change impacts on the structure and function of lake phytoplankton and zooplankton communities.

Instructor: Dr. Jim Hood

EEOB 8896.15
Seminar in Population Genetics

Instructors: Laura Kubatko, Paul Fuerst


Autumn 2017

EEOB 8896.04
Writing Science: Two-part Graduate Seminar Series

Instructor: Stuart Ludsin

EEOB 8896.07
Communicating science via photography

Instructor: Andi Wolfe


May / Summer Semester 2017

EEOB 5798
Tropical Behavioral Ecology and Evolution in Panama

Instructor: Rachelle Adams

EEOB 7210
Methods in Evolution and Ecology: Essential tools for computational biology

Instructors: Bryan Carstens and Ariadna Morales


Spring 2017

EEOB 8896.01 
The Anatomy and Physiology of Host-Microbial Interactions

Instructor: Zakee Sabree

EEOB 8896.02
Graduate Seminar: Behavior

Instructor: Rachelle Adams

EEOB 8896.05  
Ecological Speciation

Instructor: Bryan Carstens

EEOB 8896.11
Population Ecology Part II: developing and applying demographic models 

Instructors: Maria Miriti and Libby Marschall 

EEOB 8896.18
Sexual Selection and…  

Instructors: Susan Gershman and Andy Roberts

EEOB 8896.19
Agent Based Models in Behavior and Ecology

Instructor: Ian Hamilton


Autumn 2016

EEOB 8896.10 
Discussion of current primary literature and major topics in phylogenetic systematics.

Instructor: Meg Daly

EEOB 8896.12 
When should engineered gene drives be used to manage wild species?

Instructor: Professor Allison Snow, snow.1@osu.edu

EEOB 8896.15  
Seminar in Population Genetics

Instructors:  Laura Kubatko and Paul Fuerst

EEOB 8896.19
Meta-Analysis in Evolution and Ecology

Instructor: Steve Hovick


Spring 2016

EEOB 6210
Ecotoxicology

Instructor: Roman Lanno

EEOB8896.04—section 310
Publishing Papers in Plant Ecology

Instructor:  Allison Snow

EEOB 8896.05
Molecular Basis of Adaptive Variation in Natural Populations

Instructor: H. Lisle Gibbs

EEOB 8896.07-100
Communicating science via photography

Instructor: Andi Wolfe

EEOB 8896.09
Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental and sociological considerations

Instructor: Roman Lanno

EEOB8896.15
Population Genetics

Instructor: Laura Kubatko


Autumn 2015

EEOB5420
Ecology of Inland Waters

Jim Bauer

EEOB8896.04 – 500
Writing Science Graduate Seminar

Stuart Ludsin, Michael Fraker, Conor Keitzer

EEOB8896.05
Evolutionary radiations seminar

Andi Wolfe

EEOB 8896.11
Teaching College-level Ecology: Bringing Innovation Into the Laboratory Experience

Maria Miriti and Peter Curtis

EEOB8896.12
Molecular Ecology

Bryan Carstens

EEOB8896.18
Host finding mechanisms in insects

Norm Johnson

EEOB8896.19 :: CANCELED
Current Topics in Quantative Methods

Bryan Carstens


Spring 2015

EEOB8896.02 – 500
Graduate Seminar in Complex Adaptive Systems in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior

Dr. Ian Hamilton

EEOB 8896.05
Evolutionary Innovation

Dr. John Freudenstein

EEOB 8896.12
Model-based Phylogeography

Dr. Bryan Carstens

EEOB 8896.15
Topics in Phylogenomic Inference

Instructor: Laura Kubatko 


Autumn 2014

EEOB 5450
Quantitative Population Ecology

Drs. Maria Miriti, Libby Marschall, and Noelle Beckman

EEOB 8896.02
Animal Personalities

Instructor: Dr. Doug Nelson

EEOB 8896.04 
Career Options for EEOB PhDs: Exploring the Landscape

Instructor: Dr. Allison Snow, EEOB

EEOB 8896.04
EEOB Departmental Seminar Series

Dr. Zakee Sabree

EEOB 8896.07-100 (34551)
Communicating science via photography

Instructor: Andi Wolfe

EEOB 8896.12
Molecular Ecology focusing on Phylogeography and Landscape genetics

Instructor: Bryan Carstens


Spring 2014


EEOB 5320
Creation and Evolution: Differing Worldviews  (29190)

Instructor: Dr. Andrea D. Wolfe

EEOB 6210
Ecotoxicology

Instructor: Roman Lanno

EEOB 6320
Principles of Systematics I

Instructor: Hans Klompen

EEOB 7220
Modeling in Evolutionary Ecology

Instructors: Ian Hamilton, Libby Marschall, David Glover

EEOB 8896.04
Graduate Seminar in Ecology: Ecology and evolution in weedy and invasive species: considering plant functional traits

Instructors: Steve Hovick and Kristin Mercer (HCS faculty)

EEOB 8896.05
Evolution and ecology of animal venoms: Unanswered questions

Instructors: Meg Daly, Lisle Gibbs

EEOB 8896.06
Phylogeography and evolution in marine systems

Instructor: Meg Daly

EEOB 8896.15
Current Topics in Mathematical Population Genetics

Instructors:  Laura Kubatko and Paul Fuerst


Spring 2014 :: Courses of interest outside of EEOB

ENTOMOLOGY 7910 

The Nature and Practice of Science

Instructors:
Dr. Dan Herms ,  Professor and Chair, Dept. of Entomology
Dr. Carol Anelli, Professor and Associate Chair, Dept. of Entomology                                          
Dr. Ross MacDonald, Research Scientist, Dept. of Entomology

VETBIOS 8855
Commercialization for Researchers

Team Leader: Professor Thomas Rosol


Autumn 2013

EEOB 5420
Ecology of Inland Waters

Instructor: Dr. James Bauer

EEOB 7310
Studies in Taxonomy (to become Plant Taxonomy)

Instructor: Dr. John Freudenstein

EEOB 8896.02 
Behavior Seminar

Instructors: Dr. Andrew Roberts & Dr. Susan Gershman

EEOB 8896.04
Publishing in High-Impact Journals

Instructor: Dr. Allison Snow

EEOB 8896.10
Graduate Seminar in Systematics:

Instructor: Bryan Carstens

EEOB 8896.11
Foundations of Quantitative Ecology Seminar

Instructor: Paul Hurtado

EEOB 8896.11
Graduate Seminar in Population Ecology:
Introduction to R for Biologists

Instructor: Simon Queenborough