Ohio's Natural History

Using a mix of hands-on fieldwork and laboratory analysis, this camp exposes students to the ecological importance of Ohio's local habitats, which include forests, prairies, streams, ponds and wetlands. Students also learn different methods of collecting, quantifying and identifying the organisms they encounter, as well as the evolution and ecology of each.

As the course progresses, students will experience hands-on data collection, an introduction to scientific analysis and the presentation of results from field-based observations and laboratory observations.

Faculty

Dr. Robert Verb is an associate professor in the Department of Biological and Allied Health Sciences. Dr. Verb earned a Ph.D. in environmental and plant biology from Ohio University in 2001. He has 10 years experience with temperate aquatic ecosystems, including stream, lakes, ephemeral and wetland systems. He specializes in algae and aquatic plants and their role in these aquatic habitats. This expertise has also allowed him to provide consultant services in algal identification and ecological patterns for several private and public institutions. Dr. Verb's personal research focuses on the response of benthic algal communities to various environmental stressors and disturbances and has resulted in many presentations, invited symposia, and 12 peer-reviewed, aquatic-centered publications. Dr. Verb has also instructed or co-instructed college students and high school teachers on topics such as introductory biology, general botany, plant and algal systematics and ecology, limnology, biogeography, geology and natural history. This is his third year teaching for the Summer Honors Institute.

David Taylor is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Allied Health Sciences at Ohio Northern University. Mr. Taylor earned an M.S. in biological sciences from the State University of New York at Binghamton, specializing in the anti-predator behavior of amphibians. While at Binghamton, Mr. Taylor also worked on projects involving submerged aquatic vegetation and ecosystem processes in watersheds. These diverse interests and experiences have allowed Mr. Taylor to teach or serve as a teaching assistant in a wide variety of undergraduate courses, including botany, zoology, ecology, population ecology and general biology. For the past two years, Mr. Taylor also has served as a guest lecturer in the natural history course at Ohio Northern University. This is his first year teaching natural history for the Summer Honors Institute.