Spring 2025 ZooBot Program, Friday Harbor Laboratories

Marine Botany (BIOL 445)

Instructor:                                                                              Teaching Assistant:

Kaitlyn J. Tonra                                                                      Taylor Hughes

tonrak@oregonstate.edu                                                         tkh25@uw.edu                                   

Course Description

Course Content: This is a 5-credit course in which you will be introduced to the sciences of phycology (the study of algae) and marine botany, with special emphasis on the marine algae of the Salish Sea.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, you will:

• Know the major lineages of algae and be able to place them in their evolutionary contexts.
• Be able to recognize ‘on sight’ the most common and prominent species of algae, seagrasses, and marsh plants present in the marine environments of the Salish Sea and know how to obtain correct identifications for other elements of the flora.
• Learn to make voucher specimens of marine algae by preparing herbarium sheets of properly identified seaweed you have collected with “accession-ready” labels. All collection data will be entered into the FHL herbarium database.
• Know how the most common and abundant algae and seagrasses are built (their morphology) and how they reproduce, be able to explain how morphology and reproduction are used to identify algae and be able to explain how different patterns of morphology and reproduction help individual algae adapt to their environment.
• Have a broader context of knowledge of algae and seagrasses that you can apply to such topics as marine food webs, biodiversity, harmful algal blooms, algal aquaculture (including biofuels and restoration), and global climate change.
• Be comfortable using microscopes and studying fine detail of plants
• Understand the importance and skills needed to bring marine information to school children and interested adults
• Keep an effective and informative lab notebook detailing lab and field observations and experiments with organisms

Characteristics of Class Meetings: 

• The class will be centered in Lab 3 on the FHL campus. You will “live” in the lab for 10 weeks. Students will be assigned a lab space and the use of two microscopes and sea tables. Lectures are generally scheduled for the first hour of morning and afternoon sections and will be held on the FHL campus in either the Commons or Lecture Hall. Attendance in lectures and labs is strongly recommended. This class will be highly interactive with the instructor and TA, and labs will use fresh and materials that often will be available only on the day of the lab. Field trips are in integral part of the experience to understand the natural history of and diverse habitats in which marine algae are found, and to collect materials for further examination and identification.
• Students will perform an experiment measuring the growth rate of kelp plants over the time period of the quarter. Students will set up the experiment and collect data in groups. Each student will prepare and submit a written lab report. In order to accommodate different skill levels, the instructors will help guide report preparation, and review and advise on drafts.
• By the midterm practical exam students will be expected to be able to identify and name 26 of the most common marine plants (Josephine’s 26). This will provide a basis for being able to communicate in the field and quickly perform ecological studies accurately.

Text, Readings, Materials:

We will be using iNaturalist for recording your collections and field observations. This free app is available for iPhones at Android phones.

We recommend that you purchase ($3.99) an app used for introductory seaweed identification of common species. The app will be a supplemental tool for learning characteristics and referencing species. “Seaweed Sorter” is available on the Apple App Store and on Android phones.

We will also be using a more formal key that has ALL the seaweeds and will be used to teach morphology and terminology.

If you do not have a mobile phone, contact Kaitlyn about arranging an alternative.

Text: 

Library copies of most of these resources will be available for class use.

We do not require a formal text, however we recommend this book as a mid-level text covering most of the subjects presented in the course. 

Algae (Fourth Edition)—by Linda E. Graham, James M. Graham, Lee W. Wilcox, and Martha E. Cook ISBN 978-0-9863935-3-2, eText only, available from https://www.ljlmpress.com/algae.html.

This book is also recommended as a high-level reference text if you plan on continuing the study of phycology. Make sure you get the second edition. $45-70 new in paperback. (not the one with the blue/orange cover) It is somewhat less expensive second-hand from places such as Abe Books and Amazon.

Hurd, C. L., P. J. Harrison,  K. Bishof, and C. S. Lobban. 2014.  Algae and Seaweed Ecology and Physiology  Cambridge University Press. Second Edition. xiv+551 pp.

Readings, lectures, lab exercise etc. will be available online (UW’s Canvas) and assigned weekly. Lab handouts will be provided during lab sessions.

Materials: Be sure to read the supply list sent to you before your arrival regarding clothing, camping gear, etc.

 For the Botany class please bring or purchase in the FHL stockroom:

1. Unlined lab notebook (lab notebook will be required),
2. Small waterproof (“Rite in Rain”) notebook for field work (Can be shared with Inverts)
3. Watchmakers forceps (which are available in stockroom),
4. Colored pencils
5. Notebooks for lecture notes
6. 10 sheets of herbarium paper

Key dates: (Subject to chance)

  Monday, April 7:      Field trip to Point Caution

Monday, April 14:      Field trip to Cattle Point

Tuesday, April 15:      Field trip to Eagle Cove

Tuesday, April 22:      Midterm exam, lab notebook check

          April 26-29:      Outer coast trip

  Saturday, May 3:      FHL Open House

 Thursday, May 8:       Herbarium assignment and lab report due

 Monday, May 12:      Field trip to Mosquito Pass (Kittiwake)

 Tuesday, May 13:      Field trip TBD

    Friday, May 16:      Final exam, final lab notebooks due

Assessment (total 100 points):

• Midterm written exam 15% Tuesday, April 22
• Midterm lab practical 10% Tuesday, April 22
• Herbarium Sheets 10%  Thursday, May 8
• Lab Report 5% Thursday, May 8
• Final written exam 20% Friday, May 16
• Final lab practical 10% Friday, May 16
• Lab journal/notebook 15% Friday, May 16
• Outer coast work* 10%             Deadline TBD
• Outreach activities 5%

*Outer coast work:

The elements of this grade include:

1. Participation and field performance. Are you mentally and physically present? Are you taking notes and pictures? Are you listening to the instructors or wandering off on your own? Are you exploring, engaging, appreciating? Are you behaving safely?
2. Outer coast reflection. Details to be added.

Policies

This course is designed to maximize your learning of the subject matter and advance your skills through a variety of hands-on activities. All our policies are aimed at supporting these educational goals.

Exam Attendance. Exams are only offered on the scheduled dates and “make up” exams will not be offered.

Field Trips. Class field trips are an integral part of the course that are essential to many of the learning objectives. Attendance on these trips is strongly recommended.

Excused absences. Our attendance policies are flexible only under limited circumstances. Excused absences are religious holidays, pre-approved professional activities, injury or illness of student or family member. Verification of these events will be needed, and notification of anticipated absences should occur as early as possible prior to absence. All concerns related to COVID-19 exposures and subsequent quarantines will be handled by FHL's Operations Manager, Bernadette Holthuis (holthuis@uw.edu), and only students required to quarantine will have excused absences from the course.

Plagiarism & Academic Honesty

At the University level, passing anyone else's scholarly work, which can include: written material, exam answers, graphics or other images, and even ideas as your own, without proper attribution, is considered academic misconduct. It also includes using text written by a generation system as one’s own (e.g., entering a prompt into an artificial intelligence tool and using any part of the output in a paper or other assignment). Plagiarism, cheating, and other misconduct are serious violations of the University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478‐120). We expect that you will know and follow the UW's policies on cheating and plagiarism. For more information, see the College of the Environment Academic Misconduct Policy.

Disability Accommodations

It is crucial that all students in this class have access to the full range of learning experiences.  At the University of Washington, it is the policy and practice to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. Full participation in this course requires the following types of engagement:

Lecture: the ability to attend twice-daily lectures of ca. 60 minutes each, with up to 20 other students.

Lab: the ability to attend twice-daily lab sessions of up to 3 hours, including handling live plants and marine animals, using microscopes, recording observations by hand in a notebook.

Field Trips: the physical conditioning and ability to participate in field trips ~twice per week, including boat trips, hiking on steep trails and clambering over rocks on the shore.               

If you anticipate or experience barriers to your learning or full participation in this course based on a physical, learning, or mental health disability, please immediately contact the instructor to discuss possible accommodation(s).  A more complete description of the disability policy of the College of the Environment can be found here. If you have, or think you have, a temporary or permanent disability that impacts your participation in any course, please also contact Disability Resources for Students (DRS) at:  206-543-8924 V / 206-543-8925 TDD / uwdss@uw.edu e-mail / http://www.uw.edu/students/drs.

Religious Accommodations

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).”