I usually teach Evolution (INB370) – a large class for upper division undergraduates that provides an introduction to biological evolution, focusing on the mechanisms of evolution and the history of life on earth. I’m happy to provide lecture materials, etc.
I also teach a class on Meta-Analysis for graduate students, where students conduct their own meta-analyses related to their research, which have sometimes become chapters in their dissertations or standalone publications.
I also regularly teach evolution themed graduate seminar classes, which are usually journal-club style or focused on a specific topic related to a new evolution text.
In Spring 2025 I led a class on “Foundations of Evolution”, where we discussed classic literature and papers in evolution along with a paired, more contemporary paper. If you’re interested in our reading list (chosen based on the interests of the students in the class), here is a mostly functional list:
| Topic | Classic Paper | Recent Paper |
| Dobzhansky muller incompatibilities | Genetic Nature of Species Differences Author(s): Th. Dobzhansky Source: The American Naturalist , Jul. – Aug., 1937, Vol. 71, No. 735 (Jul. – Aug., 1937), pp. 404-420 | Bundus et al. 2018: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6039526/ |
| The cost of Natural Selection | Haldane “The cost of natural selection” | Environment-independent distribution of mutational effects emerges from microscopic epistasis |
| Predation as a Selective Force | Darwin, Charles, and Gillian Beer. On the Origin of Species. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. | Endler JA. NATURAL SELECTION ON COLOR PATTERNS IN POECILIA RETICULATA. Evolution. 1980 Jan;34(1):76-91. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1980.tb04790.x. PMID: 28563214. |
| Archael Phylogeny & Convergent Evolution | Phylogenetic Structure of the Prokaryotic Domain | Recovery of Lutacidiplasmatales archaeal order genomes suggests convergent evolution in Thermoplasmatota |
| Selection and drift | Dobzhansky 1957, https://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/classictexts/dobzpav.pdf | https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2307107121 |
| Biogeograpy & Gene Flow & Speciation | M. Slatkin Science 1987 ‘Gene Flow and the Geographic Structure of Natural Populations’ | Diop et al. Genome Bio 2022 ‘Gene flow and introgression are pervasive forces shaping the evolution of bacterial species’ |
| Coevolution | Butterflies and Plants: A study in coevolution 1964 Elhrlich and Raven (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1964.tb01674.x) | Do latex and resin canals spur plant diversification? Re-examining a classic example of escape and radiate coevolution 2020 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1365-2745.13203 |
| Fitness Landscape | Wright, S. – “The roles of mutation, inbreeding, crossbreeding and selection in evolution” | A rugged yet easily navigable fitness landscape |
| Pleiotropic Effects on Selection and Adaptation | Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the evolution of senescence. | Pleiotropy facilitates parallel adaptation |
| Spandrels | The Spandrels of San Marco | Still little evidence sex differences in spatial navigation are evolutionary adaptations |
| Genomics and Indigenous Knowledge Systems | Evolutionary Rate at the Molecular Level | Weaving place-based knowledge for culturally significantspecies in the age of genomics: Looking to the past to navigatethe future |
| Evolution of Competitive Interactions | character displacement 1956 https://watermark.silverchair.com/5-2-49.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAA2swggNnBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggNYMIIDVAIBADCCA00GCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMnIF9EApqYD91AmVpAgEQgIIDHgwz_Rh6_GH1Tw4FQaSAZDiwckonptl44N8Bz1CisTw–98mcTkduFN2DFAHqyXBxXDFMUNhNehhBf-u8sKpSfNqQFcnWm_bShAUwhADMBzi1xPxgvClDvBaNHXfoY8LnaOOhMkAfGqCtUPJmy-_wSl1GvLcq8oyvxWFx3Rf4b1myORc_dj9SmvF6llByRsMIblQUgrTucHBHM-xPsuDg8k1HlBoYOclVR0E_OEl8qI1EZf1HucPL4gdjpxoJTDLnadL50kolrcboL4lSTmvrK-ezDWxPZcGz07_p7xBKlxUfQZ0Rue93jJjYNu450ES_i37n-1Ag4LYrYf5NGcZZn1LG7GrkEE7W-9uyzGfel0fEMMDP780fo_8Nk0FnCNBbvagh6OTfcACz7Fi2oO8Ns9Jhz9ldhqUd6tBmBK0WIeMvDwmpvOOMBR7HE_z5Gxpae8klZ_ibm_r10OkGBclFYQyOi5dVem3crZIAq1b9i2twOeLr3awrPWU1EoRieFm785TxKqd4zTbp6W4f9oB6tGJaEetaj-ecFzIylk0nnBnvSrO5hxHUaB2ZzgVEJfv_Ojn6nT5JnINd4MA6XAaKMVNWHzemrP9vB1ndIE2HmV-LWscx1ghHuxxonkvlRNmBIm8iAlQJwqL5dwmdM6Q-2bCyL5eXbrQyBNGCoDWzH0pT6E2bVAUNnq27CHPTmVzJvccuWeD867FUuMMpJiCT7D0y04QYPKmQbMWnDiBwgrP6tOmH93SPh9KEw642QPfc_Hl_YRixJCyt51U7UUfuwNVuYsTtl0mlLSTJq1BgueSQ13a5VDBinFqhNQ4fuUPE5EBqauonfknmk6-SmnRUdG76KH6cIndzautIvSYZlV1c-f53zMk8JVNlzk44bf6FNtdORFdrN5J4rMwZmB0_fdb3Gtdlqg67vUyxGm7klKXBbIID5JHOmWvdIk5jMMlkZNASGo_VUxn7-8iVguXxHaKVP7klQ75pe4Os_humxQmOTVx1p6mYMBzonkJ2Hj946N0B3rsI9RZU23mDNvHRroGZK7EPecAb2jqKaPRgw | Rapid evolution of a native species following invasion by a congener https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.1257008 |
| Phenotypic selection | The measurement of selection on correlated characters | Phenotypic selection in natural populations: what have we learned in 40 years? |
| Evolution of Sex | Contemplating life without sex | Is there any distinction between sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction? |