Single Credit Modules (BIOL 548)

Professional Development Modules

BIOL 548L Visual and Oral Presentations
Instructor: Kaitlyn Gaynor
Course period: March 10 - April 2
Schedule: Tues & Thurs 3 – 4:30 pm
Maximum enrollment: 12
Location: Biosciences 4223
In this module, students will learn best practices for the professional communication of scientific research, and refine their presentation skills. Topics include principles of graphic design for slides, posters, and figures; the construction of compelling and clear narrative structures; and public speaking and presentation tips. These topics will be covered through a mix of lectures and interactive activities. The module will culminate in poster and oral presentation sessions, where students can showcase their skills and share their research findings and plans with colleagues.

BIOL 548O Dealing with Data
Instructor: Rachel Germain
Course period: February 2 - March 4
Schedule: Mon & Wed 1:30 – 3pm
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: Biodiv 224
This 1 credit course provides practical instruction on how to efficiently manage a reproducible research project. You will learn version control, the core principles of "tidy data", and how to automate and document your workflow from data entry to final result. Students will implement these concepts using R and Git + Github, and will evaluate their own project workflow as well as their own/their peer's code through reflection assignments. We will also discuss the benefits of open science for researchers and research integrity/public trust in science. Students will be evaluated on their ability to complete coding workshops that cover core skills applicable to most research projects, including but not limited to: coding collaboratively using GitHub, manipulating data frames, working with strings, creating and using functions, using conditional arguments, and writing loops. A laptop that can run R and R Studio and that can connect to wifi is required; please install and check that these programs run before the first class.

BIOL 548I Science Writing
Instructor: Diane Srivastava
Course period: February 3 - March 5
Schedule: Mon & Wed 3 - 4:30pm 
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: BioDiv 224
The philosophy of this one month course is that good scientific writing is more about getting the big picture right than necessarily the small details. Therefore, the first half of the course deals with choosing the right question and framing it convincingly, building a logical argument and justifying hypotheses. The second half of the course demonstrates how to build an outline before plunging into best practices for writing clear, concise and flowing text. Students will work progressively on writing an abstract and introduction to either their research proposal or a scientific manuscript; students should be prepared to work on one of these. The course mixes lectures with small group exercises and peer review. 
Priority is given to Zoology students; please contact the instructor if you would like to enroll but are not a Zoology student.

BIOL 548S Career Information for Zoology Graduates
Instructor: Ora Johannsson
Course period: January 5-28
Schedule: Mon & Wed 1:30 – 3 pm
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: Biosciences 4223
How to write application letters and put together your biography when applying for a job. Presentations of non-academic jobs in fields related to cellular biology, physiology and ecology. How to develop working partnerships with government and industry and how to work effectively and creatively in foreign countries.

BIOL 548K Grad school as a process: how to make the most of your degree
Instructor: Katie Marshall
Course period: November 4 - December 4
Schedule: Tues & Thurs 11:30 - 1pm
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: Biosci 4223
Doing a graduate degree in Zoology involves a lot more than just doing your research and writing a thesis. One of the most important aspects of graduate school is that it is a process of discovery about yourself. In this sense, graduate education can be a rich but often bewildering journey. Most of your graduate education is likely to focus on specialized training in your field of study, and you will have ample opportunities to learn research methods and how to write up your work for a scientific audience. But graduate students often get very little guidance regarding the overall process of being a graduate student. The objective of this seminar is to explore tools that can help you not only survive but also thrive during your graduate journey.

Our focus will revolve around addressing several key questions: How can we enhance efficiency and effectiveness in our work? What strategies can we employ to maintain a balance between personal and professional growth? How can we establish clear goals and align ourselves with their fulfillment? To tackle these questions, this seminar course incorporates a combination of readings, activities, and discussions.

You should be willing to assess both your strengths and limitations, and be ready to actively engage in group work with your fellow graduate students. Some of the topics for discussion include: setting achievable goals, communicating with your advisor and committee: where to go when you need help, time management and project management, perfectionism, procrastination, and paralysis: how to cope with feelings of inadequacy, drinking from the firehose: how to work with the scientific literature, avoiding accidental plagiarism, scientific integrity and ethics, and maintaining wellness

BIOL 548H Genome engineering for zoologists
Instructor: Ben Matthews
Course period: March 10 – April 2
Schedule: Tues & Thurs 11:30am – 1pm
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: Biosciences 4223
This graduate module will explore the history, science, and ethics underlying various techniques for targeted genome engineering including (but not limited to) CRISPR/Cas9. Students will read papers, engage in discussions, and complete an independent project in which they will design all facets of an experiment in an organism of their choice to tackle a question of interest that is best addressed through genome engineering approaches.  No background in gene editing or bioinformatics is required but a basic understanding of molecular biology will be assumed.

BIOL 548E Computer Programming for Biologists
Instructor: Darren Irwin
Course period: November 4 – December 4
Schedule: Tues & Thurs 1 – 2:30pm
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: BioDiv 224
Virtually all biologists these days use computers to do complex data analyses, but we usually rely on programs written by others. Learning to write our own programs can bring great power—enabling us to conduct simulations of biological processes, conduct statistical tests for unusual situations, and design novel data visualizations. This 1-credit course is designed for biologists who want to learn the fundamentals of how to write computer programs and then apply that knowledge in the context of biological research. We will learn using a relatively new language, Julia, that is designed for high-performance (fast and memory efficient) scientific computing. The core concepts can be applied to any programming language, and there will be some reference to R and Python. Students will come away from the course with the fundamental knowledge needed to write programs to conduct simulations, analyze data, and produce visualizations. We will also learn about approaches to make our code available to others, as a tool for teaching, collaboration, and contributing to wise decision-making.

The course will be designed for beginners to programming, but students with any level of prior coding knowledge are welcome (we can learn from each other :). Biologists from any sub-discipline are welcome. Students will need a laptop during class sessions, as much of the course will be based on live coding exercises. Evaluation will be based on attendance / participation during course meetings and the completion of several small programming projects chosen by each student.

Ecology Concept Module

BIOL 548J Ecosystem Ecology
Instructor: Mary O’Connor
Course period: January 6-29
Schedule: Tues & Thurs 11:30am – 1pm
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: BioDiv 224
Think ecosystem ecology is all about nitrogen cycling? Think again! Ecosystem ecology is the most holistic ecological discipline, explicitly considering ecological systems and all their parts. In this course we consider ecosystems as stocks and fluxes of energy and matter. We review papers and concepts to understand what measurements of nutrients, carbon and biomass can tell us about how ecosystems operate and change through time. We will consider contemporary topics, including biodiversity and ecosystem function, and discuss how ecosystems have changed over geological time, in the context of general ecosystem ecological concepts.

BIOL 548G Community Ecology
Instructor: Chris Harley
Course period: January 6-29
Schedule: Mon & Wed 3 – 4:30pm
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: BioDiv 224
A survey of the development and application of key concepts and approaches in community ecology, such as interspecific interactions, trophic cascades, meta-community dynamics, and the causes and consequences of biodiversity change. The goal of the course is to broaden and deepen students' perspectives by presenting a suite of fundamental yet cutting-edge ecological ideas and their influence on the development of community ecology and related fields.

Physiology Concept Modules

BIOL 548R Environmental Toxicology
Instructor: Chris Wood
Course period: January 5 - 28
Schedule: Mon & Wed 11:30 - 1pm
Maximum enrollment: 20
Location: Biosci 4223
Environmental toxicology is an interdisciplinary science (chemistry, biology and ecology) which studies the impact of toxic substances on ecosystems. The course will introduce students to the basic concepts and methods of environmental chemistry, toxicology and risk assessment, with an emphasis on aquatic ecosystems. The topics covered include the major classes of contaminants, their environmental fate, bioaccumulation and effects from molecular to ecosystem levels, the interaction of other environmental factors and environmental risk assessment. The course will also address specific environmental problems, with particular attention given to the issues of metals, ammonia and environmental salinization.

 

 

Visit their website for course descriptions

Module	Title	Instructor	Start Date	Days
BIOL 548T	Living Data Module (Productivity and Reproducibility)	Jason Pither (UBCO), David Hunt (McGill), Sandra Emry	Sep 2 2025	Tue, Thu
BIOL 548U	Living Data Module (Scientific Data Management)	Diane Srivastava, Sally Taylor, Raymond Ng, David Hunt (McGill), Sandra Emry	Sep 2 2025	Tue, Thu
BIOL 548V	Living Data Module (Synthesis Statistics)	Jennifer Sunday and Laura Pollock (McGill), David Hunt (McGill), Sandra Emry	Oct 7 2025	Tue, Thu
BIOL 548W	Living Data Module (Scientific Collaboration)	Kerri Finlay (Regina), Bruno Soares (Regina), David Hunt (McGill), Sandra Emry	Oct 7 2025	Tue, Thu