3 credits (counts as an L1 lab course)
Students must apply for this course. Application must be emailed to bryn.dentinger@utah.edu by Monday 31 March 2025 and consists of 2 parts:
1. Half Page statement explaining why you want to take this course and how you think it will help you in the future. (Include your email address).
2. Unofficial Transcript
Those selected will be notified by email no later than Friday 04 April 2025.
COURSE OVERVIEW
Weekly meetings throughout fall semester
(Mondays 12:55 – 1:45pm), together with a
9-day field trip to the Bonderman Field Station at Rio Mesa, Utah (October 4-12, 2025)
Professor: Bryn Dentinger
TAs: TBD
Course Fee: $350.00
Textbooks (provisional):
1. Sowell, John. 2001. Desert ecology: An introduction to life in the arid southwest. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
2. Course manual, with readings & course details (provided at the first course meeting).
The purpose of this course is to provide you with nine days of complete immersion in desert field ecology, preceded by lectures and discussions introducing desert ecology. You will be introduced to concepts and methods used by ecologists to understand the diversity of species found in deserts, which are, perhaps counterintuitively, among the most diverse habitats in the world. Following the field portion of the course you will learn how to collate and analyze field data, prepare a scientific journal article, and give an oral research presentation.
The focal study group is fungi, but we will also study other groups (determined in part by TA expertise). No previous background in mycology is required. The course is designed around a 9-day intensive field course and will require camping in tents in somewhat primitive conditions. More information will be provided as the course is developed over the spring and summer.
The Dentinger Lab 