Current Teaching

Stephen M. Shuster

 

BIO 221   BIO 222    BIO 227    BIO 366   BIO 475    BIO 499    BIO 666    BIO 682   BIO 698 

 

 

Each odd-numbered fall semester I teach BIO 366 (Behavior of Animals) and co-teach BIO 580 (Population and Quantitative Genetics with Dr. Liza Holesky). BIO 366 is open to majors and nonmajors and provides an introduction to the theory and principles currently used in the analysis of animal behavior. BIO 580 introduces fundamental concepts in population and quantative genetics.

 

 Each even-numbered fall semester I teach either BIO 221 (Invertebrate Zoology I) or BIO 222 (Invertebrate Zoology II). BIO 221 is the first half of a two-semester, lower-division course in Invertebrate Zoology; all zoology majors require one semester of invertebrate biology. BIO 222 is the second half of Invertebrate Zoology. Each even-numbmered fall semester I also teach BIO 227 (Intertidal Invertebrates of the Sea of Cortez I), and (3) coordinate two sections of BIO 221L or BIO 222L (Invertebrate Zoology Laboratory I or II).  BIO 227 is offered to the 12 most outstanding students in BIO 221-222. This course provides students with the opportunity to investigate living and fossil invertebrates in the northern Gulf of California and participate in a field research project using invertebrates as study organisms.

  

Each even-numbered spring semester I teach (1) BIO 475 (Parasitology), (2) BIO 499 (Intertidal Invertebrates of the Gulf of California II), (3) I coordinate two sections of BIO 475L (Parasitology Laboratory), and (4) lecture for four weeks on nonparametric statistics in BIO 682 (Quantitative Biology). BIO 475 is an upper division course in parasite biology open to undergraduate and undergraduate students. BIO 499 is the second half of the Intertidal Invertebrates course in which students work up data collected in the Fall and present their results at the annual Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences meeting. BIO 682 is a graduate depth course in biostatistics as described above.

 

Each odd numbered spring semesster I direct a graduate seminar. Recent seminars have focused on my coauthored book, Mating Systems and Strategies. I also direct one section of BIO 498 (undergraduate seminar) and one section of BIO 698 (graduate seminar). As student interest requires, I also teach BIO 666 (Animal Behavior) (2) BIO 499 (Intertidal Invertebrates of the Sea of Cortez II), (3) and lecture for four weeks on nonparametric statistics in BIO 682 (Quantitative Biology). BIO 666 is a graduate level course in animal behavior  Lectures are supplemented with presentations from other faculty active in behavioral research (Whitham, Shuster, Propper) as well as with student-led discussions of the primary behavioral literature; Students in these sections attend weekly laboratory meetings where they present their ongoing research.

 

I am involved in individual instruction through graduate and undergraduate research offerings (BIO 485 and BIO 685) as well as thesis and dissertation direction (BIO 699 and BIO 799).  I am thesis advisor for three M.S. students (Patricia Dennis, Dannielle Jensen and Kimberly Whitley) and three Ph.D. students (Benjamin Jaffe, Becky Beresic-Perrins and Bill Briggs). I serve on the research advisory committees for several M.S. students and Ph.D. students.