Teaching

BSC 295: Acoustic Communication
Across the animal kingdom, sounds play critical roles in species survival, including mating, parental care, and predator avoidance. In this course, we will adopt a broad, integrative approach to this subject, examining the role of particular acoustic communication systems from the proximate level (ie, how do brains produce and detect sounds?) to the ultimate/evolutionary level (ie, how does this acoustic signal affect fitness?). Topics that might be covered include ultrasonic communication, duetting, acoustic threat displays, bird song learning/tutoring, sound-based mate localization, and/or eavesdropping.

BSC 295/PY 299: Physics and the Brain
All biological processes operate under the rules of physics. We will use the brain, with its electrical circuits composed of living cells, to investigate how physics shapes biology. This course will be taught studio-style, with a mixture of lectures, group activities, and hands-on laboratory experiments. Students will gain an understanding of how fundamental physics principles underlie brain function in general, and the sense of hearing more specifically.

CBS / BIO 705: Fundamentals of Neuroscience
This is a fundamental course that will provide the student with an up-to-date coverage of molecular, cellular, physiological, and circuit-based aspects of modern Neurosciences in the Comparative Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. Being a graduate-level class, the instructors will assume that the students have acquired some background in basic biology and biochemistry. The most important goal of this course is to train PhD students in neuroscience function and disorders, preparing them for neuroscience research. Emphasis will be placed on the systems and skills needed to pursue experimental neuroscience activities. Important components of the learning process will be presentations from neuroscience experts, class discussions, exams and in class activities.