EVOLUTIONARY SEMINAR HOMEWORK

LEARNING OUTCOME:
For this homework you are required to attend an Evolutionary Biology research seminar, leveraging the
rich tradition of various life sciences departments across campus. The intent is for you to gain an
appreciation of evolutionary biology as a dynamic field of biology, by listening to some of today’s
scientist from ISU or other institutions describe their current and cutting edge research.

WHAT DO I NEED TO SUBMIT FOR THE HOMEWORK?

Provide a brief (1-page) summary of the research seminar you attended. Use either Microsoft Word
(.doc or .docx) or text format (.txt) to create your file. Save the file with your name
(YourNameLastname.doc, YourNameLastname.docx, or YourNameLastname.txt) and upload it to the
Canvas site (for instance, my file would be NicoleValenzuela.doc).

WHAT SHOULD I WRITE FOR MY SUMMARY?

Your summary should include the speaker's name, the title of the talk, and should briefly describe the
topic and findings discussed, and the evolutionary biology topic(s) that it related to. You should also
describe what you learned or found particularly interesting from the seminar.

WHAT TYPE OF SEMINARS ARE VALID FOR THIS HOMEWORK?

Acceptable seminars must be on some topic of evolutionary biology. Your textbook serves as a guide.
Exclusively ecological or molecular seminars that do not address an evolutionary biology question are
not acceptable. Check the seminar titles and abstracts as a guide to what the content of the seminar is.

WHERE CAN I FIND A SEMINAR TO ATTEND?

Possible venues include the seminar series of the EEOB Department (Thursdays 3:45pm: 210 Bessey
Hall), the GDCB Department (Tuesdays 4pm: 1414 MBB), the NREM Department (Fridays 3:00pm: 164 E
Lago), as well as other seminars you can find on campus or elsewhere (see Dr. Valenzuela or Mr. Janzen
for an alternative assignment if you have a schedule conflict).
http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/events ; https://www.gdcb.iastate.edu/events/seminars
https://www.nrem.iastate.edu/events/seminars
A list of seminars that are appropriate for certain at this moment can be found in the attached file.

YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE ATTENDING ANY SEMINAR:

To receive credit, students must email Garrett Janzen at gjanzen@iastate.edu prior to attending the
seminar indicating the seminar you plan to attend.

WHEN IS THIS HOMEWORK DUE?

You must submit your 1-page summary of the seminar on Canvas by 5:00 pm within 1 WEEK after
attending the seminar.

It is recommended that you do not leave this assignment for the last minute of the semester in case
there are no appropriate seminars to attend late in the semester. The last day for submitting this
assignment is the first day of finals week (if and only if a seminar was attended during the last week of
classes). Otherwise, the deadline for submission is by 5:00 pm within 1 WEEK after attending the
seminar.