FSEM 124   Discovering Biology: Invasive Species

Faculty Profile for Professor McHugh

From Pacific Lionfish in the Caribbean to Cane Toads in Australia, from Lantana plants in the Western Ghats of India to Cattle Egrets in Brazil, this course provides students with an introduction to scientific discovery and science as a way of knowing through the lens of biological invasions. The practice of science and how we communicate science are considered through explorations of invasive plants and animals in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Invasive species are considered in a broad biological framework and in the context of global change, economic pressures, and competing social and scientific views on managing invasive species. Students deliberate in written assignments and class presentations on specific ways in which invasive species affect biodiversity, how they adapt to new environments, and how humans play a role in homogenizing biodiversity. Students who successfully complete this seminar earn credit for CORE S110 and satisfy the Core Sciences requirement.

Professor Damhnait McHugh is a marine biologist who studies the evolution of animal diversity, both ancient and recent. Recently she has become very interested in the ecology and evolution of animals that humans introduce to new habitats, in the sea or on land.