A Note From the Chair
Jane Brockmann, Department of Zoology
This article was originally published in the May 1999 issue of CLASnotes.
Faculty
and students in the Department of Zoology study a diverse array of biological
problems, everything from the gene sequences that identify human ancestry to
the mating behavior of horseshoe crabs to the development of larval starfish.
We work from the molecular or cellular level to the level of the individual,
community or landscape to identify the factors that influence individual behavior,
community structure or ecosystem dynamics. Our colleagues in the Florida Museum
of Natural History and joint faculty in Zoology add an important dimension
to our program through their emphasis on paleontology and the historical influence
of humans on species and communities. We cover tropical and temperate, marine,
freshwater and terrestrial habitats; we work in all parts of the world including
Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean, the South Seas and Florida.
We study a wonderful array of life from alligators and turtles to fish, birds,
primates, fruitflies and spiders. Training in the biological sciences occurs
in many colleges and departments at UF (e.g., Medical School and IFAS), but
it is our integrative view of the life sciences, using an evolutionary and
ecological approach, that makes Zoology special.
Most of our undergraduate majors are pre-professional students aspiring to careers in medicine, environmental science, and biology research and teaching. Introductory Biology is taught in collaboration with the Department of Botany through the Biological Sciences Program. This Program provides hands-on, laboratory experiences in modern biology for 4,700 life science students annually (and for another 600 non-majors). Our upper-division Zoology courses emphasize investigative science through laboratory and Web-based research experiences. Many of our majors go on to conduct extended research projects with UF faculty and graduate students.
Quality graduate and undergraduate teaching in the biological sciences requires modern facilities. This year we are adding a Computer Teaching Laboratory so that all of our undergraduate courses can benefit from computer-assisted learning. For example, our genetics courses train students to use genetic databases available on the Web to discover the hereditary basis of disease, and our ecology courses train students in statistics and data analysis. Thanks to ICBR (Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research) we added a Genetic Analysis Laboratory this year that provides graduate students with an opportunity to learn modern molecular techniques that are as crucial to research in evolution and ecology as they are to research in physiology and development.
But the most exciting recent changes to our program have been the addition of outstanding faculty in quantitative genetics and theoretical ecology, two areas that are new to our Department. We are delighted with the added depth that these individuals bring to our program and with the possibilities they afford for new collaborations. The Department is also working to bring top-flight molecular biologists to CLAS through the Provost's genetics initiative.
Our students will be asked to solve the ever-expanding problems of agriculture (e.g., pest resistance), medicine (e.g., new diseases and drug resistance) and the environment (e.g., maintenance of biological diversity and habitat conservation). Rapidly expanding technologies allow us to address such problems in ways we would not have imagined possible even 10 years ago. The Zoology program must provide students with the foundation knowledge, theory and tools (integrative, ecological, evolutionary) they will need to address these challenges of the future. The faculty particularly enjoy sharing our fascination for the biological complexity and diversity which lies at the heart of many of these problems.
Credits
Writer
Jane Brockmann
