This two-week summer short course, July 20 – August 12, will be taught by experts from around the world as an intense lecture, laboratory, and living collections learning experience. The course will be based at the Weld Hill Research Building at the Arnold Arboretum, which offers a state-of-the-art microscopy laboratory for teaching and sits amid the 15,000+ living specimens of more than 2,200 species at the Arnold Arboretum.

With the opportunity to bring molecular genetic and genomic tools to almost any clade of plants, it is essential to understand the biology of the organisms in question. A key challenge will be to link comparative developmental genetics to existing bodies of knowledge; notably the over two hundred year legacy of plant anatomy. This integration is critical as the phylogenetic, structural, and ecological breadth of plant taxa open to study expands, and potential questions become increasingly sophisticated. This course will provide a working knowledge of tools and concepts that are central to understanding the anatomical basis for structural and functional diversity.

Instructors:

Pieter Baas (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Pamela Diggle (University of Connecticut)
William (Ned) Friedman (Harvard University)
Peter Gasson (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)
Cynthia Jones (University of Connecticut)
Elisabeth Wheeler (North Carolina State University)

Deadline for applications: April 15. For complete information and syllabus visit https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/education/aa-summer-course/