Course: Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms, Iowa Lakeside Lab
This course, now in its 61st year, will introduce students to field and laboratory study of freshwater diatoms. We will visit diverse aquatic habitats of the Upper Midwest to make live and fossil collections of most freshwater diatom genera. Students will learn techniques in collection, preparation, and identification of diatoms. Lectures will cover diatom taxonomy, systematics, stream, lake, and wetland ecology, research applications, and bio-geography. Students will assemble individual voucher collections as a means for practicing diatom research and species verification. As a final project, students will complete a taxonomic treatment of a species that will be ready to submit for peer-review to the Diatoms of the North America (diatoms.org).