undergraduate research
September 2018: I am excited to be supervising two exceptional undergraduate thesis students this year. Their projects involve DNA metabarcoding for detection of fish species in lake water samples and screening for diet in caribou scat.
BIOL 4010Y, 4020D: Research Thesis (Sc)
Students investigate a specific field of interest under the guidance of a faculty member. BIOL 4020D is a double credit in Biology. BIOL 4010Y is a single credit because the same thesis is submitted to the other department/program in a joint-major or is submitted in conjunction with BIOL 4400Y. Prerequisite: 15.0 university credits; the Animal Care Course (p. 20), if applicable; a minimum average of 75% in BIOL courses completed; and agreement of a faculty member to supervise the project. (In some cases, it may be possible to take BIOL 4020D with a cumulative average of 70% in Biology courses if recommended by a faculty member willing to supervise it.) To be accepted into a joint thesis course, the student must meet the requirements of both programs.
BIOL 4010Y, 4020D: Research Thesis (Sc)
Students investigate a specific field of interest under the guidance of a faculty member. BIOL 4020D is a double credit in Biology. BIOL 4010Y is a single credit because the same thesis is submitted to the other department/program in a joint-major or is submitted in conjunction with BIOL 4400Y. Prerequisite: 15.0 university credits; the Animal Care Course (p. 20), if applicable; a minimum average of 75% in BIOL courses completed; and agreement of a faculty member to supervise the project. (In some cases, it may be possible to take BIOL 4020D with a cumulative average of 70% in Biology courses if recommended by a faculty member willing to supervise it.) To be accepted into a joint thesis course, the student must meet the requirements of both programs.
Photo Credit: michael Runtz
About Me
I am an Assistant Professor in the Biology department and an Adjunct Professor in the Environmental & Life Sciences (ENLS) Graduate Program at Trent University. I am passionate about science and education and I have been a science educator and wildlife researcher for over 10 years. My most recent research is in collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry and involves an Aquatic Community Environmental DNA (ACED) project that utilizes trace amounts of DNA from water samples to track endangered and invasive fish species in Ontario. However, the bulk of my previous (and ongoing) research has focussed on how hybridization and environmental factors, including human influences, alter evolutionary trajectories and lead to contemporary evolution of species. Much of my work has been on Canis species and in particular Eastern Wolves (Canis lycaon), a threatened species in Ontario and Canada. In 2012, I founded the Eastern Wolf Survey, a research project focussed on non-invasively tracking Eastern Wolves in southern Ontario's Provincial Parks. Check out my research page to find out more about my research. Check out my teaching page to find out more about my teaching.
I am also working to build online biology curriculum that is interactive, mobile, and widely accessible.
Check out www.cordulia.com to find out more.
I am also working to build online biology curriculum that is interactive, mobile, and widely accessible.
Check out www.cordulia.com to find out more.
news: August, 2018
The critically endangered red wolf (Canis rufus) and Mexican grey wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is being reviewed by a panel under The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine. Find out more here or here.
news: october 9, 2017
The RADsequencing data associated with our publication in Biology Letters (Rutledge et al. 2015. RADsequencing and genomic simulations resolve hybrid origins in North American Canis) (http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/7/20150303) is now more easily accessible through the Dryad Repository at: http://datadryad.org/resource/doi:10.5061/dryad.pr318
news: Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Our comment on hybrid origins of eastern and red wolves was published today in Science Advances. Read it here.
