Courses
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Recurring courses
Spring semester (every year): The Living Planet - Impact of the biosphere on the Earth System Course IB 159; instructor: Ivo Duijnstee Earth is a complex dynamic system. Interplay between its components (solid earth, oceans/ice and atmospehere) governs conditions on the planet’s outside that we inhabit. In turn, life asserts a vast influence on the abiotic components; in fact the biosphere itself is an important system component. We will explore the effect that 3.5 billion years of evolving biosphere had on System Earth and vice versa (e.g. in terms of climate), including the recent human impact on the system. Spring semester in even years: Paleobotany - The 500-million year history of a greening planet Course IB 181L; instructor: Cindy Looy Course description: This course is an introduction to the evolution of plants and their ecosystems through time. We will start off with the earliest plant life, the transition to land, and the emergence of terrestrial ecosystems. We will follow the evolution of major plant groups during important moments in time through the Phanerozoic (last 650 million years). We will explore ancient fossilized plant communities, their ecological properties, and we will examine how major environmental upheavals affected their evolution. Throughout the course, we will see what profound impact plants have on the functioning of our planet’s surface and atmosphere. New Spring 2026! The animal in you: evolutionary traces in the human body Course IB 38; instructors: Cindy Looy, Juan Liu, Onja Razafindratsima, Becca Tarvin & Jack Tseng Course description: This is a non-majors semester-long course taught by a group of integrative biologists with very distinctive expertise. What they have in common is their interest in evolution and how life changes through time. In this course, we explore the fascinating evolutionary history embedded within our human body, revealing the anatomical and physiological traits we share with our distant animal ancestors. By understanding these evolutionary traces, you will gain a deeper appreciation of how our bodies have adapted, and in some cases, retained characteristics from our ancient relatives. Offered every fall semester: Biology and geomorphology of tropical islands IB 158LF/ESPM C107; instructors always include 2 IB and 2 ESPM faculty members (in even years including Cindy Looy, and sometimes Ivo Duijnstee) This study abroad course offers a field research experience that many former students consider the capstone to their years at Berkeley. The course begins with weeks of lectures and training online that provide the contextual frame work for the remainder of the course. The students then depart for approximately 10 weeks at the Gump Research Station on Moorea in French Polynesia. While in Moorea, students design and execute their own independent research projects, starting with the initial preliminary studies and ending with statistical analyses and writing. During the final weeks off-campus the students write up their findings and prepare a professional seminar on their projects. The class size is limited to 22 students by the Gump dormitory facilities. Students learn about the biology, geology, evolution, and people of the South Pacific. They develop the fundamentals of field research and work with faculty members to develop an independent project on an island topic, such as marine or terrestrial ecology, volcanic geomorphology, biodiversity, invasion biology, animal behavior, or oceanography of reefs and islands. |
What's on in Spring 2026?
INTEGBI 181L (Cindy & Jaemin) Paleobotany - The 500-million year history of a greening planet INTEGBI 159 (Ivo &Riley) The Living Planet - Impact of the biosphere on the Earth System INTEGBI 38 (Cindy & four colleagues) NEW! The animal in you: evolutionary traces in the human bod Vertical Divider
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