Fall 2026 Special Topics & Capstone Courses
See the Supplemental Course List for your curriculum to learn how the course will count toward your degree.
Capstone Courses
BIO 484 (094) – Circadian Clocks, Cancer and Environmental Health
State-of-the-art advances in circadian clock biology and its mechanistic role in carcinogenesis, pharmacological, and toxicological sciences presented with applications in environmental health, cancer, aging, cardiovascular, and sleep physiology.
Contact Dr. Shobhan Gaddameedhi (sgaddam4@ncsu.edu) for more information.
Special Topics and New Courses
BSC 295 (010) – Acoustic Communication
Across the animal kingdom, sounds play critical roles in species survival, including mating, parental care, and predator avoidance. In this course, we will adopt a broad, integrative approach to this subject, examining the role of particular acoustic communication systems from the proximate level (i.e., how do brains produce and detect sounds) to the ultimate/evolutionary level (i.e., how does this acoustic signal affect fitness?) Topics that might be covered include ultrasonic communication, duetting, acoustic threat displays, bird song learning/tutoring, sound-based mate localization, and/or eavesdropping by predators, parasites or “sneaker” males.
BSC 295 (011) – Neuroscience of Mindful Learning
Students in the Neuroscience of Mindful Learning will build a supportive classroom community to 1) explore fundamental principles in neuroscience as applied to the process of learning, 2) relate diverse learning strategies to our understanding of the factors that can influence learning, and 3) practice critical reflection as a means toward strengthening their skills as mindful learners.
BSC 495 (301) – Microbial Genetics
Covers the structure, function, expression, and evolution of microbial genes and genomes, with an emphasis on bacteria. Examines microbial genome replication and repair, the flow of information through transcription/translation, regulation of gene expression, and mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer. Students should have MB 251 or GN 311.
AEC 295 (004) – Animal Communication
Communication – the exchange of information between individuals – is the underpinning of emergent function that leads to superorganisms, societies, and multicellularity. If you’re interested in how whales find and recognize each other, why crickets chirp and how they manage it, or how the cowbird, raised by another species, finds out it’s a cowbird, this is the class for you.
AEC 495 (011) – Ecosystem Ecology
This course examines how ecosystems function through interactions between climate and organisms. Students explore how these interactions regulate ecosystem pools and fluxes, and the movement and transformation of matter and energy, including carbon and nutrient cycling, and how ecosystems are responding to global change.
AEC 495 (009) – Environmental Issues in Aquatic Ecology
This course explores the science, policy, and politics of environmental issues affecting aquatic ecosystems from freshwaters to the open ocean. Its overall goal is improved protection of these natural resources and the health of people across the world who depend on them for potable water supplies and seafood.
FW 495 (001) – Marine Wildlife Conservation
This upper-level undergraduate course provides an overview of the biological and ecological traits of marine wildlife in relation to seascape processes and dynamics, and explores related conservation issues, challenges, and opportunities through in-depth discussion, lectures, oral presentations, and written papers. Topics include fisheries, invasive species, endangered species, habitat alteration, and climate change. Relevant U.S. and international policies are also opportunistically introduced. Junior or Senior standing or instructor permission.
ANT 395 (001) – Think Like a Neanderthal
ES 295 (003) – Environmental Data Analytics
FW 295 (001) – Citizen and Community Science
NR 491 – Environmental Justice Theory and Application
NTR 495 (001) – Introduction to Sports Nutrition
PB 495 (002) – Plant Evolutionary Biology
PB 495 (003) – Translational, Integrative, and Synthetic Plant Biology
Data Science Academy Courses (Many Options Linked Here)