Skip to main content

Blog 10: Reflection

 In this course I learned that the study of evolution is so much more than just Darwin's theory. I got to go more in depth about the different mechanisms and processes of evolution, and the different predictions and information we can take away from what we know about evolution. I loved the case studies that demonstrated actual studies related to what we were learning about in lecture and the textbook and getting to work through them in R.

Speaking of the textbook, I thought it was great! The organization was fantastic and it was so nice to have one resource to go to both for help in R and to review the class material. It was super easy to use and just a great tool overall.

To be honest, I was really dreading having to do coding in this class. I feel like I am not that great with computers and I had zero coding experience. But I actually found I kind of enjoyed it! While sometimes it was frustrating if my code wasn't working or I didn't understand something, it was rewarding to be able to work through it and figure it out. It's definitely a valuable skill to have in the research career field and I am thankful I am somewhat proficient now and can continue to improve.  

As a side note, I especially enjoyed the R exercises involving COVID-19. In this day and age with so much misinformation being spread, it was really cool to be learning the tools to analyze raw data yourself and come to your own conclusions instead of only relying on news outlets to interpret it for you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog 1: Introduction

 My name is Victoria Gaa. I am most recently from Kansas, but it's hard to say where I am really from since I have lived in several different places before that (my favorite was Colorado). In the future I hope to go to a place where I can be happy, preferably somewhere with good friends, good job opportunities in wildlife biology, and surrounded by lots of nature. Being outside and enjoying the world around me is one of my major passions, whether that's reading under a shady tree in the park or hiking up a trail in the mountains. I also love the tallgrass prairie and am passionate about conserving this disappearing and beautiful ecosystem for future generations.  Evolution is so fascinating to me even before taking this class because it's wild to think about how life on Earth has changed and expanded from the first cell to the amazing biodiversity we see today. Every branch on the tree of life is a story evolution can tell us, from flowering plants to big cats to deep sea l...
3 comments
Read more

Blog 4: Mutation

 Mutations - any change in DNA sequence - are the ultimate source of genetic variation and therefore the base material for evolution. There are many different types of mutations, all with varying effects on an individuals fitness. Mutation rates are also important to consider.  Yes, mutation rates themselves can evolve to be higher or lower. Mutation rates can vary from individual to individual, and a higher or lower mutation rate may be beneficial or not based on the type of environment. This means that selection can act on mutation rates, which may lead to evolution. Mutation rates are heritable based on the ability of organism to replicate DNA sequences and repair mistakes, which is encoded in the genome.  High mutation rates would be beneficial in environments with high variation. If the environment is always changing, the ability of the populations that live there to adapt to varying conditions would be paramount. Adaptations arise from mutations, so the more amount ...
Post a Comment
Read more