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Prerequisites:
6 units of level 1 Biology or BM subjects and/or consult Academic
Advisor
Subject Description:
This course explores
theoretical and applied aspects of the role of genetics in understanding
and managing biodiversity. Independent project work, both written
and practical, will provide an opportunity for students to investigate
areas in which they have a particular interest, whether it involves
conservation of plants or animals, in terrestrial or aquatic habitats.
Official
description from University Handbook.
Contact hours:
22 lectures, 10 tutorials,
30 hours of practicals and workshops. First semester.
Assessment:
Assessment
will be based on both a final written examination at the end of
semester and reports and practical materials submitted during semester.
Students must perform satisfactorily in the final examination and
on course assessment. The distribution of marks of all course work
is as follows:-
- 3 hour examination
- 50%
- Laboratory report,
tutorial test - 15%
- Library Research project
(essay and seminar) - 15%
- Practical Research
Project - 20%
Students
must attend all practicals and submit any material, e.g. slides,
cultures, prepared during the practical class. If you are absent
for medical reasons, a medical certificate must be submitted in
the week following the absence.
Course
Content
( note
sequence of events will alter from year to year)
22 lectures,
10 hours tutorials + 30 hours of practicals and workshops
Topics covered in
lectures
- Role of genetics in
the conservation of biodiversity.
- Conserving genes and
germplasm.
- Applied aspects of
germplasm conservation.
Scope
of practical course
The practical
course will demonstrate how hybridisation and polyploidy impact
on genetic diversity, and provide opportunities for you to extend
your cytological skills and to collect and plan the conservation
of genetic resources.
Practical
and tutorial timetable
|
*Week
Number
|
Practical
Details
|
Time
Allocation
|
|
1
|
Tutorial
Project work
|
1
h Project Discussion
2 h for planning! |
|
2
|
Tutorial
Project work
|
2 h
2 h
|
|
3
|
Cytology |
4
h practical |
|
4
|
Tutorial
Project work |
2
h
2 h |
|
5
|
CSIRO
visit
Project work |
2
h
2 h |
|
6
|
Tutorial
Project work |
2
h
2 h |
|
Recess
|
|
7
|
Easter
Friday |
.
|
|
8
|
Anzac
Day |
.
|
|
9
|
Field
trip - Genetic Diversity in Townsville
|
4
h |
|
10
|
Practical:
Hybridisation and polyploidy impact on genetic diversity |
3
h |
|
11
|
Tutorial
Project work |
1
h
2 h |
|
12
|
Tutorial
Project work |
2
h
2 h |
|
13
|
STUDENT
SEMINARS |
3
h |
Tutorials
The aim
of tutorials is to consolidate the principles of genetic analysis
which you acquired earlier in your undergraduate studies. Thus,
the course will begin with revision material and then look at questions
relevant to the lecture material covered in this course. This course
includes 10 hours of Tutorials. Exact details will be provided at
the start of semester.
Tutorials
are designed to enhance
- Reasoning skills
- Writing skills
- Speaking skills
- Web searching skills
Tutorials also aim to
encourage critical and lateral thinking. These objectives will be
more easily achieved if you are interested in the resource material
available to you. For this reason, the "discussion" components of
the tutorials in this course will be based on topics YOU select
from the list of journals, Web sites and articles provided.
If you wish to select
papers from journals / Web sites not listed, that is acceptable,
provided the material is relevant to Conservation Genetics.
Journals
- Conservation Biology
639.9 P11
- Biological Conservation
574.5 P4
- Evolution 575
P1
- Molecular Biology
and Evolution 574.88 P5
- Science 500
P35
- Trends in Ecology
and Evolution 574 P45
- Nature 500
P24
- Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences
USA 500 P22
- Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society B 574 P14
- Access to Molecular
Ecology, an electronic journal
- http://www.ingenta.com/journals/browse/bsc/mecol
Web sites of interest
Further Details; Lecture
& Practical Supplements:
Enrolled students can
access further information and supplementary material by logging
on to LearnJCU. Others
may sample some of this by clicking on the preview button
in LearnJCU, selecting
the Courses tab, and browsing the Course Catalog.
Contact
Details:
Subject
Co-ordinator:
Dr Leone
Bielig
School of Tropical Biology
James Cook University
Townsville Q 4811
Telephone
47 81 4466
Room 120,
Biological Sciences Building
Email:
Leone.Bielig@jcu.edu.au
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BT3360:03
- Topics in Conservation Genetics 
Timetable & Lecture Notes
