MEES663

New technologies in genomics, especially next-generation sequencing, have revolutionized the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology across all hierarchical levels of biological organization. Within virtually any species, we can now study genetic diversity and gene expression across the entire genome to understand adaptation to current environments and responses to global change. In multi-species contexts, we now have the tools to understand the importance of interspecific gene flow in adaptation, determine the role of genetic diversity in community composition, and characterize the diversity and function of cryptic organisms, such as microbes, in communities and ecosystems. This course will cover the major research topics in ecological genomics, considering individual, population, interspecific, and community and ecosystem hierarchical levels. The course will comprise lectures, student-led discussions of primary literature exemplifying applications of genomics to contemporary environmental problems, and hands-on experience manipulating and analyzing real genomic data sets with the latest bioinformatic tools in the UNIX/Linux and R environments.