BIOL 475 at the Manhattan Beach restored dunes site, Fall 2023.

COURSE OFFERINGS

Dr. Eisen teaches both lower- and upper-division courses in the Biology Department at LMU.

General Biology II. This lecture course is the second semester in our lower division introductory sequence. We focus on the mechanisms of evolution and the principles of ecology. The course is divided into four units that progress from the foundations for evolutionary thinking to human impacts on ecology and evolution.

Evolution. Evolution is a central and unifying theme in the life sciences. In this upper-division course, we examine the pattern and the process of biological evolution, the history and development of evolutionary thought, microevolutionary mechanisms of change, speciation, and large-scale macroevolutionary phenomena. Readings from the literature, with a focus on experimental studies of evolution, will be discussed in class.

Evolution Field Lab. This investigative field lab engages students in a set of inquiry-based investigations of microevolutionary and macroevolutionary forces that shape different ecosystems in Los Angeles. The course includes nine field trips to beaches, preserves, and living museums in and around Los Angelesrelate to three main projects: cataloguing wild yeast biodiversity on native and introduced tree species, measuring natural selection in restored dunes, and analyzing macroevolutionary diversity.

Evolution with Field Lab is a combined lecture-and-lab course where students are enrolled concurrently in the upper-division Evolution lecture and the Evolution Field Lab.