This page contains supplemental information on biology courses offered in the next academic year that have special pre-requisites and/or enrollment priorities. Please reference this list for more information about these courses. You can find the full list of Biology course offerings on the UTM Timetable and in the UTM Academic Calendar
Spring 2023
Instructor: Prof. Alex Nguyen Ba
Biology has become a data-driven science with the arrival of complex datasets. Extracting information from these large-scale experiments requires approaches that unify statistics and computer science. The course will focus on strengthening mathematical intuition on core topics such as hypothesis testing and statistical models while connecting these to machine learning.
Prerequisites: BIO360H5
Exclusions: BIO429H5 or CSC311H1 or CSC311H5 or CSC413H1 or CSC413H5 or CSCC11H3 or STA314H1 or STA314H5
Recommended Preparation: BIO361H5
This course encourages students to explore the relationship between social conditions and health outcomes. Topics may vary across years. Topics include the importance of the early years, interactions between the environment and the genes, epigenetic influences on health, sensitive periods of development, the influence of nutrition on health, the interaction between social policy, medical care, social class and human health. The students direct the learning experience in groups as they engage in case-based and problem-based learning.
Note: Students interested in this course must contact the Biology Undergraduate Advisor to enroll.
Prerequisites: permission of instructor
Please email Diane Matias (d.matias@utoronto.ca) if you wish to be considered for BIO434H5 after enrolling in this course.
The first part of the course examines the structure and molecular biology of the human genome. Topics will include: the sequencing of the human genome; variation between genomes; and various aspects of functional genomics such as a brief overview of how gene expression is regulated and how genomics is being utilized in health and medicine. Techniques such as high throughput sequencing will be covered. The second part of the course examines the molecular and genetic basis of cancer including the role of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and cell cycle regulating proteins in the development of this disease. It also looks at cancer from a functional genomics perspective. Lectures and seminars involve presentations and discussion of recently published research articles.
Prerequisites: ( BIO370Y5 or BIO372H5) and permission of instructor
Exclusions: MGY470H1
Recommended Preparation: BIO314H5 and BIO315H5
Students interested in this course should enroll on ROSI/Acorn as usual. Preference in this course is given to 4th year students in the Molecular Biology Specialist and the Bioinformatics Specialist. Second preference is given to other students with the pre-requisites. Generally, students in the Biology Minor and Biology Science Major are not approved in this course. Enrollment questions can be directed to Stephanie do Rego (stephanie.dorego@utoronto.ca)
Summer 2023
Instructor: Prof. Peter Kotanen
More than 4/5 of Canada's land area lies within boreal or arctic regions, yet most Canadians live in the south. This 2-week field course offers the opportunity to learn first-hand about Canada's northern ecosystems. It will be held at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, in Churchill, Manitoba, at the edge of Hudson Bay near the tundra-boreal boundary. Instruction will include visits to local tundra, taiga, coastal, and estuarine ecosystems, and will focus on biology and ecology of local plants, mammals, birds, and other organisms. Students will also receive a series of lectures on arctic and subarctic ecology by both course instructors and local experts. Evaluation will include quizzes, presentations, and an original research project conducted during the course and submitted after the end of instruction.
Prerequisite: 6.0 credits and current registration in a Biology, Ecology, Environment/Geography or Earth Science program and permission of the instructor. Students at other Universities are eligible to apply after obtaining a letter of permission from their home institution.
Note: Application dates for this course will be posted sometime in March.
Title: Movement Ecology
Instructor: Prof. Cassidy D’Aloia
Individuals move for many reasons throughout their life cycle. They look for a good place to live, try to escape predation, search for food, or seek a mate. This course will cover the patterns and underlying causes of different types of movement, as well as the eco-evolutionary consequences from the individual level up to the whole ecosystem. Examples will come from both terrestrial and aquatic realms (e.g. seasonal wildebeest migrations & geomagnetic navigation in sea turtles). The class will be a mix of lectures and seminar-style discussions. Reading and discussing primary literature will be a key component of this course and each student will write an independent research paper.
Prerequisite: BIO205H5 and ( BIO259H5 or STA215H5 or BIO360H5) * STA215H5 will no longer be accepted as an appropriate prerequisite course AFTER the 2022-2023 Academic year. Beginning in the 2023-2024 Academic year all students will be required to complete BIO259H5 or BIO360H5 as the statistics prerequisite course.
Recommended: BIO342H5
Students may choose from a variety of field courses offered through a cooperative arrangement among ecologists at ten Ontario universities. Courses involve a two-week period at a field site in early May or late August, and require a major paper or project report be submitted within six weeks of course completion. A fee for room and board is usually charged over and above tuition. You can find a list of all of the field courses OUPFB offers this summer here http://www.oupfb.ca/modules.html Regardless of which school you complete the field course at, the course code will be BIO416 on your transcript.
Students can apply to the Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology which allows students to participate in field courses offered by other universities. There are 22 incredible field course opportunities to choose from. The OUPFB Deadline: February 1, 2023 @ 10:00am ET. Best to submit applications before this date. Students may still apply after the deadline, but spots will be filled already so space will be limited. For UTM students to apply to OUPFB courses, students are to fill out the OUPFB application form http://www.oupfb.ca/info.html and submit the application as a PDF to undergrad.eeb@utoronto.ca, but please make sure to indicate you are from the UTM campus in your email. Once you have been contacted by the administrator on the downtown campus you will be asked to submit a $350 deposit (cheque or money order) to secure your course spot.
OUPFB Deadline: February 1, 2023 @ 10:00am ET. Best to submit applications before this date. Students may still apply after the deadline, but spots will be filled already so space will be limited.
If you have further questions, please contact Diane Matias: d.matias@utoronto.ca
Full Year
Prof. Ted Erclik
Couse Administrative Support: Stephanie do Rego