Prerequisite: ENV 502 or permission of the instructor. (Offered
as needed/1 credit) This course will introduce the theory and
practice of molecular genetics as it addresses questions at the
level of individuals within populations. The course will examine
the evolutionary forces affecting genetic variation within
populations and how this variation can be used as a tool for
determining individual identity, parentage and other degrees of
relatedness between individuals within a population. Genetic
methods for identifying individuals will be compared to non-
genetic methods. Molecular techniques that are especially useful
to conservation biology and behavioral ecology will be
introduced in the laboratory, and their applications will be
extensively discussed.