San Diego Biodiversity Project: Integrating Authentic Research and Collaboration into the Biology Curriculum

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project integrates original research directly into undergraduate courses at both the lower and upper division level. Students in a variety of biology laboratory courses are using DNA sequencing and bioinformatics techniques to create a biodiversity inventory of the Scripps Coastal Reserve, a wildlife refuge adjacent to the university campus. Students learn to compose and answer compelling and timely questions about how to identify, understand, and conserve biodiversity. For example, students in one course collect intertidal invertebrates as part of a study of anthropogenic impacts on species diversity, while students in another course sequence genes from these organisms, and students in a third course use the generated sequence data to design and test hypotheses about evolutionary processes. The objectives are to 1) engage students in the process of original research, 2) connect different courses by developing modules in which students use the same data in different ways, and 3) facilitate collaborations among courses with a web site that gives an overview of the issues, highlights student projects, and serves as an accessible repository for the data. The ultimate aim is to help students create their own connections between disparate topics and discover the interdisciplinary basis of original research. INTELLECTUAL MERIT: The data the students generate will contribute to a local biodiversity database, linked to an international database and will be available through the San Diego Biodiversity Project website. In the pilot students were excited about sequencing genes of local species not yet included in any sequence database. In addition to the intellectual impact on students, the project is adding important information concerning a highly diverse, but sparsely documented, ecosystem situated adjacent to a highly developed urban area. BROADER IMPACT: Over 2000 students per year are directly benefiting from this project. Approximately 700 students in the core laboratory course are learning molecular biology techniques by sequencing specific genes (molecular markers) from local terrestrial and marine species found at the Scripps Coastal Reserve. Around 1500 students in satellite courses are collecting organisms or using student-generated data to learn about ecological and evolutionary processes. The infrastructure is designed to serve as a resource for future students wishing to advance this effort throughout the region. The curriculum being developed at UCSD can be easily exported to universities nationwide for use by those interested in creating or adding to biodiversity databases. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts toward Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.