SEQUENCE TWO: Effects of Coastal Pollution on Marine Organisms

ETX 127-031 or NUT 127-031 (10 units), Environmental Stress and Development in Marine Organisms. (Instructor: Gary N. Cherr)

This course may fulfill the AOE in Marine Biology immersion course requirement.

Course addresses how pollutants impact the most sensitive life stages of marine organisms: their embryos and larvae. Students will gain experience in experimental aspects of reproduction and development of marine organisms and how environmental stress impacts these events. The course will include an intense lecture-lab component as well as an independent research project. Prerequisite: Environmental Toxicology 101 or Biological Sciences 102 or equivalent; Environmental Toxicology 114A/Nutrition 114 recommended.

This course is a lecture/laboratory course that emphasizes undergraduate research using advanced techniques in aquatic toxicology and developmental biology. After 2 weeks of lectures and lab and field studies, students will conduct their own research project that they develop. The course focuses on how natural and human-derived environmental stressors impact fertilization, embryo development and larval survival. The course will ask: How do embryos defend themselves against environmental insults? Students will utilize invertebrate and vertebrate species and employ approaches that are common to cell and developmental biology.

Students will not only learn culture techniques for cells and embryos, but will use advanced techniques which include quantitative fluorescence and scanning laser confocal microscopy, electrophoresis and western blotting, use of antibodies, etc.

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