Bi 180 - Plant and Soil Science

Plants comprise most of the mass of living things on land, serve as the ultimate source of almost all human food and energy, and are a dominating force in the carbon and oxygen cycles. This lecture, reading and lab course will introduce topics in plant systematics, evolution, genetics, genomics, development, and ecology, with emphasis on plant interactions with soil and the bacteria, fungi, and animals that inhabit it. There are two hours of lecture per week and 90 minutes of laboratory sessions (in two sections), in which plants and soil samples are collected on campus and brought to the lab for analysis. Enrollment is limited to 40 students. Students from all options are welcome.