Biodiversity Literacy in Undergraduate Education

Meet Sinlan (Sheila) Poo who works with amphibians at the Memphis Zoo. Learn about Sinlan's research in applied conservation and how they use biodiversity data to study endangered species.

Meet Dr. Rachel Hackett, a conservation plant biologist at the Michigan Natural Features Inventory.  We learn about Rachel's job and the restoration of threatened and endangered species. Rachel provides some examples of "new" populations and students discuss ways to determine if the population is a remnant or introduced population. 

Meet Diane Srivastava, director of the Canadian Institute for Ecology and Evolution, and learn how they sythesize and save biodiversity data.

Meet Thomas McElrath, a insect collection manager at the Illinois Natural History Survey and beetle researcher. Tommy explains the value of data standards while discussing beetles and variations in sex.

Meet Lauren Esposito, the Curator of Arachnology at the California Academy of Sciences. Learn how they use community science to inform new species discovery.

Using QGIS, this module introduces students to zoonotic pathogens, host biogeography, the "One Health" concept, forming hypothesis, and natural history museums within the Hantavirus system.

A poster summarizing how museum resources can be used for conducting biodiversity science in the 21st century including in research, education and in increasing inclusivity and diversity in STEM.

A module guiding students through the process of mapping biodiversity data and building a biodiversity dataset to study the spread and impacts of the invasive aquatic plant species, European frog-bit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L.). 

This is a collection of resources focusing on GUIDs (Globally Unique Identifiers) on what they are, what role they play in digital natural history collections, and how to incorporate them in research based work.

A module guiding students through the review of different biodiversity data sources to identify patterns in the distribution of the Sin Nombre Hantavirus in the United States. English, Spanish, and Portuguese versions included.

This resource pairs DNA barcoding databases with Biodiversity databases. Students collect their insect specimens in the field and use BLAST and BOLD to identify their species. They then use biodiversity databases to obtain information on the species' distribution, recently submitted observations, and life history stage.

In this module, students will investigate the mutualistic relationship between Agave its bat pollinators and the effects of coevolution on the morphological adaptations of the species involved.

In this set of activities, you will use the Michigan Trees Coloring book to learn and practice plant identification. You will also simulate some of the steps of specimen preparation by keying an d labeling your plant “specimens”.

In this module, students will explore Western Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge and review a case study of how the TEK of the Inuit provided a way of knowing and understanding the biology of the bowhead whale in the Alaskan arctic.

In this lab, we will be making and testing hypotheses about how the biodiversity of groups of organisms may vary through time.

In this lab, you will explore the diversity of flower and fruit adaptations that have evolved to accomplish pollination and seed dispersal and you will investigate the coevolution of angiosperms and their pollinators.

Students will learn R basics while downloading biodiversity data from multiple data repositories. This module will walk students through installing R, navigating R,writing reproducible scripts in R, and using R to download biodiversity data.

The research uses natural history collection data to explore a potential phenological shift between an orchid that employs sexual deception and a solitary bee.

This short video and assessment explain why we as scientists should cite our data sources and how we can do this for sources of biodiversity specimen data.

In this series of activities, birds will be used as the model organism. The modules examine the connections between body form and function over time by investigating the relationship between avian form and function.

Access and clean an open source herbarium dataset using Excel or RStudio.

Access and clean an open source polar bear dataset using Excel.

Investigate data standards within the context of the Alpine Chipmunk and the Grinnell Study.

The video and exercise provides insight into how researchers are using digital data resources to investigate biodiversity in prairie fen wetlands.

In this module, students will be investigating a louse gene with an unknown function to determine if it might be important in the evolution of the louse ecomorphs.

This exercise investigates the form and function of lice and their relationship to their bird host.

This module examines the complicated co-evolution of Lice, Humans, and Great Apes

This module uses digitized natural history and biodiversity collections to explore if, how, and whether disability can be studied in nonhumans as a form of biodiversity.

Adapted for online learning: In this lab, you will explore the physics of flight, the adaptations that make powered flight possible, and the evolution of powered flight in vertebrates and invertebrates.

This is an introduction to the idea of data visualization and the importance of presenting data for understanding.

Students access, clean, configure, and standardize a dataset and create a relevant and scientifically valid data visualization to communicate science.

Working collaboratively in teams of 2-4 researchers, students engage in targeted projects to address critical information and research needs using digital biodiversity data.

This activity includes a leadership assessment and associated exercise to encourage the development of 21st Century STEM Skills.

A user guide and video instructions for GBIF

A user guide and video instructions for iDigBio

A user guide and video instructions for Arctos

Best practices for designing educational modules using biodiversity data

Data ethics and the use of digital data

This PowerPoint presentation guides instructors and students through the key background information for the module.

In this module, students will be introduced to some emerging biodiversity data resources. They will be asked to think critically about the strengths and utility of these data resources and apply what they have learned to research a question.

Collections based research is a critical tool for organismal biology and biodiversity research. Yet natural history collections have a complicated past. This multi-class module examines the origins, problems, and current uses of collections.

In this module, students will be introduced to some biodiversity data resources and how to search for and download herbarium specimen images. They will be asked to think critically about the strengths and utility of these data resources.

In this lab, you will explore the physics of flight, the adaptations that make powered flight possible, and the evolution of powered flight in vertebrates and invertebrates.

In this module, students will be introduced to some emerging biodiversity data resources. They will be asked to think critically about the strengths and utility of these data resources and apply what they have learned to research question.

This activity will explore how natural history specimen data can be used to investigate the relationship between precipitation levels in a region and species diversity of amphibians.

In this module, students use data from natural history collections to look at range shifts related to climate variables over different time periods.

The objectives of this exercise are to familiarize you with the information content of biodiversity specimens and their labels, the breadth of that information across geographic space and/or time.

This educational module utilizes the traditional plant collection experience to engage students with biodiversity data protocols and resources available in our information-rich digital age.

A module to explore aggregated observation and collection information, through BISON, or Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (https://bison.usgs.gov), a tool for visualizing GBIF data.

Module on coevolution in which students utilize natural history collections. Initial module by AIM-UP was modified by BLUE

Module on coevolution developed by AIM-UP. In the module students utilize natural history collections.

In this module, students explore changes in butterfly phenology through the use of natural history collections data.