Course Catalog

8:00am - 5:00pm, M-F

Examination of ecological and evolutionary theories of animal behavior through field studies of animal coloniality, courtship, territoriality, predator defense, habitat selection, foraging, mating systems, and parental care.

This course is offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa. 

8:00am - 5:00pm, M-F

An introduction to environmental geology. 

Essentials of earth science, including astronomy, meteorology, geology, and paleontology; includes laboratory and fieldwork.

This course is offered at the undergraduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa. 

8:00am - 5:00pm, M-F

Introduction to the principles of ecology at the population, community, ecosystem levels; field studies of local lakes, wetlands, and prairies used to examine factors that control distributions, interactions, and roles of plants and animals in native ecosystems.

An introduction to the principles of ecology at the organismal, population, community, and ecosystem levels. The course integrates lectures and field studies to examine factors controlling the distribution and abundance of plants and animals in native ecosystems. General topics include climate, microclimates, soil, aquatic environments, responses of organisms to environment, life history, population growth and regulation, demography, species interactions, community composition and structure, landscape ecology, trophic structure and productivity, and biogeochemical cycles. There is a strong emphasis on field ecology (what do ecologists do?), meaning that students will conduct many field research projects. These require collection, analysis, and the interpretation of data in short reports.

Pre-requisites: Two semesters of introductory biology or consent of the instructor

This course is offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa. 

8:00am - 5:00pm, M-F

This course is an intensive, field-oriented class appropriate for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and post graduate workers in ecology, geology, environmental sciences, and diatom taxonomy. We will immerse ourselves in the diverse aquatic habitats and fossil deposits of the Upper Midwest to observe freshwater diatoms. Students will learn techniques in diatom collection, preparation, and identification. Lectures will cover taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of most freshwater genera. Students will complete individual voucher collections using modern database techniques and produce a written species treatment using guidelines for electronic publication. Students are encouraged to bring research materials. The use of diatoms in ecological and paleoecological research will be discussed.

Instructors: Mark Edlund, St. Croix Watershed Research Station, Science Museum of Minnesota.
Sylvia Lee, United States Environmental Protection Agency. 

Scholarships: Available through Iowa Lakeside Lab including The Charlie Reimer Scholarship, which is awarded to one student annually based on scholastic merit. For more information see the scholarship section of the Lakeside Lab web site (www.iowalakesidelab.org). 

The Hannah T. Croasdale Fellowship is available through the Phycological Society of America (deadline March 1): http://www.psaalgae.org/hannah-t-croasdale-fellowship 

The John C. Kingston Diatom Fellowship was established in 2004 by colleagues, friends and family to honor John's memory and to recognize the contributions he made to the study of diatoms at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. Each summer, an award is made to one advanced student or researcher to serve as teaching assistant for the Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms course and to engage in a research project. The fellowship includes a stipend and room and board at Lakeside and is available to domestic and international students, at the graduate level or advanced undergraduate level. See the Iowa Lakeside Lab webpage (www.iowalakesidelab.org) to apply.  The JC Kingston Fellowship is administered by the Friends of Lakeside Lab.

Pre-requisites: none

This course is offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa. 

Summer 2023 - This course is available for 1, 2 or 4 credit hours.
1 credit hour course meets June 26 - June 30, 2023
2 credit hours meets June 26 - July 7, 2023
4 credit hours meets June 19 - July 14, 2023 

8:00am - 5:00pm, M-F 

Nature of cultural and environmental evidence in archaeology, how such evidence is used to model past human behavior and land use; emphasis on Iowa prehistory; basic reconnaissance surveying, excavation techniques.

As this is primarily a field course, excavation and mapping notes as well as recording of general observations while digging will be required. Lab processing forms will also be completed by field school participants. No formal tests or writing assignments are required beyond the field notebooks (which will include building an annotated bibliography from pertinent source materials provided by the instructor).

Participants will be introduced to the essential methods of field archaeology including artifact identification, site mapping, excavation techniques, artifact processing, and beginning analytical methods. The field school will include lectures on Iowa archaeology and the culture history sequence of western Iowa as well as day trips to the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa and the Dixon Oneota site, and possibly the Blood Run National Historic Landmark, Jeffers Petroglyphs, and Pipestone National Monument.

This course is offered at the undergraduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa. 

Scientific introduction at intermediate level to ecology and evolution of important groups of organisms: algae to vertebrates, different ecological phenomena (e.g., fire and climate change), varying landforms, different ecosystems (e.g., prairies and aquatic systems); emphasis on sustainability with introduction to concepts, issues, and practices; ability to communicate environmental information through a variety of means.

This course is offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa. 

8:00am - 5:00pm, M-F

Lichens are a diverse, abundant, and readily accessible group of organisms that are routinely overlooked. This course will focus on allowing students to appreciate the beauty and diversity of local lichen species, while learning to identify these organisms.

Course Objectives: By the end of the course, students will be able to: 1) recognize and describe the biology and morphology of lichens; 2) use taxonomic keys to identify lichens; and 3) recognize local lichen species in the field.

This course is offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa. 

8:00am - 5:00pm, M-F

Biology, ecology, and behavior of birds; emphasis on field studies of local avifauna; group projects with focus on techniques of population analysis and methodology for population studies.

This course is offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa. 

8:00am - 5:00pm , M-F

Basic patterns, underlying physical and biotic causes of regional and local distributions of North American prairie plants and animals; field and laboratory analysis and projects.

Prairie Ecology is divided into two separate courses: 
Prairie Ecology 1 (2 credits) runs from June 5 through June 16, 2023. 
Prairie Ecology 2 (2 credits) runs from July 10 through July 21, 2023. 
Taken together they cover the material traditionally covered in Prairie Ecology (4 credit hours).

This course is offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. Academic credit is awarded through the University of Iowa.