Fall 2026

Communicating Evolutionary Biology

This course explores contemporary evolutionary biology while developing critical thinking and communication skills through seminars and primary literature analysis.

offering recorded2–3 credits

Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Nicole Perna

Summary

1 / 2

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.98 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=23 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.62 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=13 letter grades).

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Course details

Credits2–3 credits

Typically offeredFall, Spring

Subjects

Biology, Genetics

About this course

Exposure to diverse topics in contemporary evolutionary biology and development of critical thinking and communication skills. Most weeks guest lecturers present their own primary research on a specialized topic in evolutionary biology. Seminars include perspectives from genetics, ecology, geoscience, zoology, botany, microbiology, systematics, molecular biology, and integrative research. Some weeks feature special topics and discussions on pedagogical, legal, outreach, or other issues in evolutionary biology. Includes thinking critically about methodology, experimental design and interpretation, and how conclusions are reached in evolutionary biology by reading primary and secondary literature, attending seminars, discussing topics with speakers and other students, and preparing a written report. The 3-credit version of the course delves deeper into communication of evolutionary biology to researchers, undergraduates, K-12 students, and the general public.

Prerequisites

Course map

GENETICS 466, 468,ZOOLOGY/ANTHRO/BOTANY 410, or BIOCORE 381, or concurrent enrollment

take one

BIOLOGY/GENETICS 522

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Any of

Professors

Fall 2026

Nicole Perna

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.92 GPA, 94.7% A/AB (n=19 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.76 GPA, 87.9% A/AB (n=33 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=24 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

NICOLE T PERNA is recorded teaching in Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

Section	Mode	Enrolled / capacity
SEM 001	Classroom Instruction	8 / 12
SEM 002	Classroom Instruction	0 / 18
SEM 001	Classroom Instruction	5 / 12
SEM 002	Classroom Instruction	17 / 24

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records

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Student experience

the class

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.98 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=23 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.62 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=13 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

Contemporary evolutionary biology and integrative research perspectives.
Pedagogical, legal, and outreach issues in evolutionary biology.
Methodology, experimental design, and interpretation.

Skills

Critical thinking and communication skills.
Critical analysis of methodology, experimental design, and interpretation of primary/secondary literature.
Written report preparation.
Communication of evolutionary biology to diverse audiences.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Fall 2026 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records

BIOLOGY/GENETICS 522 · Fall 2026

Communicating Evolutionary Biology

Recorded 2026-09-07

BIOLOGY/GENETICS 522 · Fall 2026

Communicating Evolutionary Biology

Recorded 2026-09-07

Raw records

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    "credits_min": 2,
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Model outputs & technical records

nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4

LLM outputs across runs

Download part 1

Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance

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  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "602bbeba32b4df271851e7aee75180fd2eee1b98240cee14772e99df6b0dd40c",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}