Websites
BIOL 332. General Ecology. 3 Credits.
An introduction to ecology. Covers the relationship of individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems to their biotic and abiotic environments. Prerequisites: BIOL 150, BIOL 150L, BIOL 151, and BIOL 151L or an equivalent approved by the department. F.
BIOL 332L. Gen Ecology Lab. 1 Credit.
Field projects and laboratory exercises to complement BIOL 332. Counts as an upper-division laboratory course. Prerequisites: BIOL 150, BIOL 150L, BIOL 151, and BIOL 151L. Prerequisite or Corequisite: BIOL 332. F.
BIOL 360. Soil Ecology. 3 Credits.
This course will survey the abundance, distribution, and identity of biota that are present in soils, their ecological functions, methods of analysis, contemporary theories about soil ecology, and practical methods of promoting soil health in natural and managed systems. Prerequisites: BIOL 150, BIOL 151, and BIOL 332, or consent of instructor. S, odd years.
BIOL 415. Genomics. 4 Credits.
Genomics describes the determination of the complete nucleotide sequence of an organism and subsequent analyses to decode the structural and functional information of all genes and regulatory sequences in the genome. This four-credit course will consist of lectures, computer lab sessions, in-class exercises, take-home assignments, student presentations, and discussion of research articles. Counts as an upper-division laboratory course. Prerequisites: BIOL 150, BIOL 150L, BIOL 151, BIOL 151L and BIOL 315. S.
BIOL 416. Ecological Genomics. 3 Credits.
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the theories, vocabulary, and techniques used in the field of Ecological Genomics, which are drawn from ecology, genomics, evolution, and population genetics. Counts as an upper-division laboratory course. Prerequisites: BIOL 150, BIOL 150L, BIOL 151, BIOL 151L, BIOL 315, and BIOL 332. Prerequisite or Corequisite: BIOL 312. S, even years.
BIOL 470. Biometry. 4 Credits.
Analysis of biological data. Covers descriptive statistics, inferential statistics (e.g., t-tests, goodness-of-fit tests, regression, ANOVA and non-parametric tests), and interpreting and presenting statistical results. Prerequisites: BIOL 150, BIOL 150L, BIOL 151, and BIOL 151L or and equivalent approved by the department. F.
BIOL 491. Seminar. 1 Credit.
Discussion of selected topics in advanced biology, a different topic each semester. Prerequisite: Major or minor in biology. Repeatable to 4 credits. On demand.
BIOL 503. Seminar. 1 Credit.
Discussion of selected topics in advanced biology, a different topic each semester. Repeatable to 6 credits.
- Soil Ecology (understanding how the soil microbiota affect the health and function of the soil system, and identification of all the fascinating nematodes, tardigrades, rotifers, mites, collembolans, and protozoans in the soil environment)
- Ecological Genomics (seek to understand what genes and genome features are necessary to understand an organism's abundance and distribution in the world)
- Wildlife Genetics (use molecular tools to understand wildlife populations, movement, and behavior to help inform management and conservation)
- Statistics/Biometry (modeling quantitative data to test hypotheses, estimate parameters, and predict future scenarios)
- Hervey, S., Barnas, A., Stechmann, T., Rockwell, R., Ellis-Felege, S., Darby, B. Kin grouping is insufficient to explain the inclusive fitness gains of conspecific brood parasitism in the common eider. Molecular Ecology (in press, Sept 2019).
- Barnas, A., Darby, B., Vandeberg, G., Rockwell, R. F., Ellis-Felege, S. (2019). Assessment of lesser snow goose (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) habitat degradation in La Perouse Bay using unmanned aircraft. PLOS ONE. 14(8):e0217049
- McKenna, T., Darby, B., Yurkonis, K. (2019). Effects of monoculture conditioned soils on common tallgrass prairie species productivity. Journal of Plant Ecology, 12, 474-484.
- Gross, R.J., Tucker, S.D., Darby, B.J., Ellis-Felege, S.E. 2016. Incidental take of water birds using covered and uncovered floating muskrat sets. Wildlife Research. In press.
- Darby B.J., Erickson S.F. Hervey S.D. Ellis-Felege S.E. 2016. Digital fragment analysis of short tandem repeats. Ecology and Evolution. 6:4502-4512.
- White, C.V, Darby, B.J., Breeden, R.J., Herman, M.A., 2015. A Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain evades a major Caenorhabditis elegans defense pathway. Infection and Immunity. 84:524-536.
- Darby, B.J., Herman, M.A., 2014. Effect of prey richness on a consumer's intrinsic growth rate. Oecologia. 175:243-250.
- Kawakami T., Darby B.J., Ungerer M.C. 2014. Transcriptome resources for the perennial sunflower Helianthus maximiliani obtained from ecologically divergent populations. Molecular Ecology Resources 14:812-819
- Giordano R., Weber E., Darby B.J., Soto-Adames F.N., Murray R.E., Drizo A. 2014. Invertebrates associated with a horizontal-flow, subsurface constructed wetland in a northern climate. Environmental Entomology 43:283-290
- Darby, B.J., Todd, T., Herman, M.A., 2013. High-throughput amplicon sequencing of rRNA genes requires a copy number correction to accurately reflect the effect of management practices on soil nematode community structure. Molecular Ecology. 22: 5456-71.
- Darby, B.J., Neher, D.A. 2012. Stable isotope composition of microfauna supports the occurrence of biologically fixed nitrogen from cyanobacteria in desert food webs. Journal of Arid Environments. 85:76-78.
- Wheeler, D., Darby, B.J., Herman, M.A., 2012. Several grassland soil nematode species are insensitive to RNA-mediated interference. Journal of Nematology. 44(1):91-100.
- Darby, B.J., Neher, D.A., Housman, D.C, and Belnap, J. 2011. Few apparent short-term effects of elevated soil temperature and increased frequency of summer precipitation on the abundance and taxonomic diversity of desert soil micro- and meso-fauna. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 43:1474-1481.
- Darby, B.J., Jones, K.L., Wheeler, D., Herman, M.A., 2011. Normalization and centering of array-based heterologous genome hybridization between species of unknown or unequal divergence. BMC Bioinformatics. 12:183.
- Darby, B.J., Neher, D.A., and Belnap, J. 2010. Impact of biological soil crusts and desert plants on soil microfaunal community composition. Plant and Soil 328:421-431.
- Neher, D.A., Lewins, S.A., Weicht, T.R., and Darby, B.J. 2009. Microarthropod communitites associated with biological soil crusts in the Colorado Plateau and Chihuahuan deserts. Journal of Arid Environments 73:672-677.
- Darby, B.J., Neher, D.A., and Belnap, J. 2007. Soil nematode communities are ecologically more mature beneath late-than early-successional stage biological soil crusts. Applied Soil Ecology 35:203-212.
- Housman, D.C, Yeager, C.M., Darby, B.J., Sanford, B., Kuske, C.R., Neher, D.A., Belnap, J. 2007. Heterogeneity of soil nutrients and subsurface biota in dryland ecosystems. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 39:2138-2149.
- Melakeberhan, H., Mennan, S., Chen, S., Darby, B.J, and Dudek, T. 2007. Integrated approaches to understanding and managing Meloidogyne hapla populations’ parasitic variability. Crop Protection 26:894-902.
- Darby, B.J., Housman, D.C., Zaki, A.M., Shamout, Y., Adl, S., Belnap, J., and Neher, D.A. 2006. Effects of altered temperature and precipitation on desert protozoa associated with biological soil crusts. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 53(6): 507-514.
- Li, F., Neher, D.A., Darby, B.J., and Weicht, T.R. 2005. Contrasting effects of copper and benzo(a)pyrene concentration on life history characteristics of Aphelenchus and Acrobeloides. Ecotoxicology 14:419-429.
- Van Dyke, F., Darby, B., Bowdish, S.E., Schmeling, J.D., and De Jager, N.R. 2002. Ecosystem management and moose: creating a coherent concept with functional managements strategies. Alces 38:55-72.
Invited book chapters
- Darby, B., Neher, D. A. (2016). Microfauna within biological soil crusts. In Weber, B, Budel, B, and Belnap, J. (Ed.), Biological Soil Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands, Ecological Studies 226 (pp. 139-157). Springer International Publishing.
- Reed, S. C., Maestre, F. T., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Kuske, C. R., Darrouzet-Nardi, A., Oliver, M., Darby, B., Sancho, L. G., Sinsabaugh, R. L., Belnap, J. (2016). Biocrusts in the Context of Global Change. In Weber, B, Budel, B, and Belnap, J. (Ed.), Biological Soil Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands, Ecological Studies 226 (pp. 451-476). Springer International Publishing.
- Neher, D.A., and Darby, B.J. 2009. General community indices that can be used for analysis of nematode assemblages. Pages 107-123 In: Wilson, M., and Kakouli-Duarte, T. (editors) Nematodes as Environmental Bioindicators. CABI Publishing, Cambridge, MA.
- Neher, D.A., and Darby, B.J. 2006. Computation and application of nematode community indices: general guidelines. Pages 211-222 In: Abebe, E. (editor) Freshwater Nematodes: Ecology and Taxonomy. CABI Publishing, Cambridge, MA.
PhD: University of Vermont (Burlington, VT, Dept of Plant and Soil Science)
MS: University of Toledo (Toledo, OH, Dept of Earth, Ecology, and Environmental Science)
BS: Northwestern College (Orange City, IA, Dept of Biology)