Yael Wyner

DNA Isolation Procedures

Literally hundreds of protocols for DNA preparation from various sources of tissue have been published over the last few decades. To display all of these preparations would take volumes of manual space so instead we present in this chapter several of the preparations that have been used successfully in our laboratories. We also present a few “classical” procedures that are “tried and true” and nearly always work. In addition the www is an excellent source for protocols. Some forums exist for the dissemination of protocols for DNA and RNA isolation (DNA isolation protocols forums: http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/protocols.html, http://bric.postech.ac.kr/resources/rprotocol/; RNA isolation protocols forum: http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/protocols/methods/RNAMethodsMenu.html).

Captive breeding, reintroduction, and the conservation genetics of black and white ruffed lemurs, Varecia variegata variegata

A character‐based phylogenetic species concept approach was used to examine conservation unit status for three wild populations of black and white ruffed lemurs, Varecia vareigata variegata, from Betampona (N = 3), Manombo (N = 6), and Ranomafana (N = 14), Madagascar. Population aggregation analysis was performed on 548 bp from the control region (D‐loop) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Twenty‐one diagnostic sites were found to differentiate the Betampona (northern) population from the Manombo/Ranomafana (southern) populations. Additionally, individuals from the North American captive population (N = 11) and from Parc Ivoloina, Madagascar (N = 6) were examined for the same mtDNA fragment. The captive animals more closely resembled the southern populations and the Parc Ivoloina animals were more similar to the northern population. However, the inclusion of these ex situ animals reduced the number of diagnostic sites differentiating the northern and southern populations. Our genetic data were used to assess the ongoing management strategy for reintroducing individuals into the Betampona population and for introducing new founders into the ex situ population. This study demonstrates the utility of combining genetic information with a consideration of conservation priorities in evaluating the implementation of management strategies.

Taking the Conservation Biology Perspective to Secondary School Classrooms

The influence of conservation biology can be enhanced greatly if it reaches beyond undergraduate biology to students at the middle and high school levels. If a conservation perspective were taught in secondary schools, students who are not interested in biology could be influenced to pursue careers or live lifestyles that would reduce the negative impact of humans on the world. We use what we call the ecology-disrupted approach to transform the topics of conservation biology research into environmental-issue and ecology topics, the major themes of secondary school courses in environmental science. In this model, students learn about the importance and complexity of normal ecological processes by studying what goes wrong when people disrupt them (environmental issues). Many studies published in Conservation Biology are related in some way to the ecological principles being taught in secondary schools. Describing research in conservation biology in the language of ecology curricula in secondary schools can help bring these science stories to the classroom and give them a context in which they can be understood by students. Without this context in the curriculum, a science story can devolve into just another environmental issue that has no immediate effect on the daily lives of students. Nevertheless, if the research is placed in the context of larger ecological processes that are being taught, students can gain a better understanding of ecology and a better understanding of their effect on the world.

Connecting ecology to daily life: how students and teachers relate food webs to the food they eat

Abstract This study used sociocultural learning theory to better understand how middle and high school environmental science and biology students and pre- and in-service science teachers connect the daily life activity of eating to the food web model learned in school. We sought to understand how student and teacher perceptions of the environment and their experiences influenced their responses to interview questions regarding this topic. Findings, based on transcribed interviews with 54 study participants, indicate that three quarters of teachers and students were unable to connect the food they eat with ecosystem food webs. Even so, many respondents particularly those from elite public schools, did not demonstrate common food web misconceptions identified by other researchers, instead showing a sophisticated understanding of food web interactions. These findings indicate that even though participants were proficient in their school science understanding of food web interactions, they did not readily think about how their everyday out of school activities, like eating, relate to those interactions. This may be representative of a more general disconnect between formal ecology instruction and daily life activities. We provide several recommendations for how this disconnect can be remedied in our classrooms.

Ecology Disrupted: Using Sustainability as a Unifying Principle for an Environmental Science Course

This chapter describes a semester long environmental science content course for pre-service and in-service secondary school science teachers. The goal of the course is to provide the necessary knowledge and tools to use published data to teach environmental science grounded in the ecological underpinnings of sustainability. To achieve this sustainability grounding, this course is built around Ecology Disrupted, an instructional model for situating environmental science courses in sustainability.