Biological Station

Birds occur at nearly every point on the globe. Across these varied environments they occupy a diversity of ecological niches as a result of their evolutionary adaptability, behavioral and physiological flexibility, and their various abilities to traverse land, water, and air biomes. Yet, they also generally face trade-offs that present stark challenges, such as balancing the demands of flight against the constraints of reproduction. Students will learn why such characteristics often make birds the subject of study for understanding ecological and evolutionary processes, as well as targets or indicators for conservation efforts. Regular field trips to various habitats across southern Oklahoma and northern Texas will provide students with the opportunity to encounter by eye and ear the diversity of bird species that migrate through or breed in the region. Students will be taught standardized survey techniques to understand how detectability can be estimated and used to inform population assessments. Each student will be expected to devise their own observation-based study to assess a relevant ecological and/or behavioral question using a species, feeding guild, or ecological community of birds as their focus.

There are around 91,000 different kinds of insects in the United States. Of those 91,000 species, around one-fifth are considered aquatic insect species. Aquatic entomology is the study of the assemblage of insects that inhabit or live near freshwater ecosystems including streams, wetlands, lakes. This course will introduce the taxonomy, ecology, and physiology of aquatic insects with emphasis on identification. This course will spend a considerable amount of time in the field visiting and collecting from various aquatic environments. The rest of the time will be devoted to the topics covered in the course mainly through lecture and discussion and the identification of collected insects.   

In this class, we will learn about herbaria, which are scientific collections of pressed, dried plants.  Herbaria give us a glimpse of all of the plants that are growing at a specific place, like the Biological Station.  We can also use herbaria to see how plants change from place to place and through time.  In this class, we will cover all aspects of herbarium specimens from making herbarium specimens to record the plants growing around the Biological Station to using herbarium specimens in research projects.  We will read papers that are based on data from herbarium specimens, learn how to analyze data from herbarium specimens from online databases using R, and design independent research projects using herbarium data.  We will also work on photographing and creating a searchable database of the herbarium at the Biological Station so that its specimens can be used not only by future classes, but by researchers all over the world. 

This Field Studies class will tackle the topic of biological conservation by focusing on pollinator and native plant habitat restoration.  Through readings, research, and outdoor activities students will learn about the common pollinators in the region, the relationships they have with native plants, and the conservation problems facing this system.  Students will collect data in the field on insects and plants, learn to identify pollinator groups, and help to create more pollinator habitat at the OU Biological Station.  Much of our time will be spent outdoors learning to make observations of the natural world, both formally through data collection on long-term projects and informally through field notebooks and citizen science projects.  Indoor time will be devoted to independent research and classroom discussions of the assigned readings.  Students will be expected to actively participate in all aspects of the course.   

Mammals play critical roles in our ecosystems. From primary consumers to apex predators, mammals help maintain ecosystem equilibrium through direct and indirect interactions. Field Mammalogy is the study of mammals with emphasis on principles of mammalian evolution, ecology, behavior, conservation, biodiversity, and field techniques. Fieldwork and laboratory activities will include observation and identification of the mammalian fauna of the region (using skulls, tracks, sign), food habits, foraging strategies, and other community dynamics. Special attention will be given to understanding the natural history of mammals occurring in the region.

Field Herpetology provides an overview of methods, techniques and standards for the collection, management and analysis of herpetological field data for various applications. On local field trips we collect amphibians and reptiles while covering basic diagnostic (morphological, ecological, and behavioral) characteristics of observed species. Students design and complete individual projects that utilize field sampling techniques and address current issues in ecology and conservation of reptiles and amphibians.

This course provides a broad understanding of the diversity of fishes with an added focus on Oklahoma species. Topics will include fish systematics, ecology, evolution, anatomy/physiology, and behavior. A large component of the course is field-based and will include visits to local lake and stream sites. Students will learn fish identification and various field collection techniques throughout the course.  

Forensic Entomology is the application of entomological principles and collection of entomological data in such a manner that it can be used as evidence in courts of law to help resolve legal issues that are either criminal or civil in their nature. While there are many topics covered in this course, a major focus area is insect colonization and ecological succession of insects and other arthropods to decomposing remains and how various factors (e.g. coverings, chemicals) affect these processes and in return how those affects will alter the minimum postmortem interval (mPMI) determination. mPMI is defined as the time from insect colonization to discovery of a body and is used by forensic entomologist to assist in homicide, suicide, and cases of abuse and neglect. This course will require students to collect, properly preserve and identify arthropod evidence (data) from pig carcasses as well as collect and analyze weather data to determine insect colonization, insect succession, and mPMI.  

Streams and rivers play a pivotal role in our lives. Streams and rivers provide water for drinking, irrigation, and hydroelectric power. Streams also provide critical habitat for fish, amphibians, waterfowl, micro- and macroinvertebrates, and aquatic plants. In this course, we will focus on the physical, chemical, and biological features of stream ecosystems. In the classroom, these topics will be covered with lectures and discussion of primary literature. Additionally, students are required to spend a significant amount of time in the field at streams. While in the field, students will be required to collect data from within and around the streams.  

Ecology is a broad field encompassing the study of organisms and the interactions with their environment.  What are best practices for studying ecology and sharing our results? In this course, you will learn about how research is conducted and shared by leading your own research projects. We will observe our outdoor surroundings to form interesting ecological questions and then work in teams to design experiments, collect data, analyze data, and share our findings through a research article and presentation. In addition to plenty of time outdoors, you will have discussion-based classroom sessions to learn and practice the important skills related to ecological research such as how take effective field notes, read primary literature, write a research article, and how to give effective presentations. This course is largely student-led.