The Second White Sea Molecular Zoology Summer School

School in Molecular Zoology, White Sea Biological Station

N.A.Pertzov White Sea Biological Station (WSBS MSU) invites undergraduate and graduate students studying zoology and ecology to participate in summer field school on Molecular Zoology, which will take place in September 5-19, 2010.

"THE WHITE SEA MOLECULAR ZOOLOGY SCHOOL" will provide a unique opportunity to get on-hand experience of wide array of molecular genetics methods and tools used in modern zoology. You are invited to spend two weeks in marvelous natural settings and friendly environment at small biological station located in pristine location called "Velikaya Salma" ("Great straight") of the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea exactly on the Polar Circle (66œ 34' N, 33œ 08' E).

During two weeks you will be involved in organismal and ecological fieldwork, laboratory data collection, and analytical work. The course will emphasize the use of molecular tools to address phylogenetic, ecological and environmental questions.

Biological station is the Moscow State University settlement accessible only by boat from the nearest village Poyakonda. Poyakonda is connected to major cities by train: 3 hours from the nearest town Kandalaksha, 21 hours from St. Petersburg , and 36 hours from Moscow. Addition information about the station can be found here: http://wsbs-msu.ru/res/NEWS24/wsbs-presentation.pdf

The number of participants is limited to 12 people. Working language is English

Syllabus

• Faunistic survey of diverse marine fauna in different biotopes: littoral fauna, benthic  study with grabs and corers,  plankton sampling from research vessel;
• Washing and processing and preliminary identification of benthic samples, introduction to quantitative ecology sampling methods.
• Overview of major groups of invertebrates inhabiting the White Sea, determination of species with taxonomic keys, primer on zoological drawings.
• DNA extraction. Overview of applicability of different protocols.
• PCR with standard barcoding (COI)  primers , agarose electrophoresis, pre-sequencing PCR-product purification
• PCR-RFLP analysis for species identification
• PCR with microsatellite (SSR) primers, - acrylamide electrophoresis, EtBr staining.
• Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)
• Sequence analysis. Contig construction, quality checking of nucleotide sequence, and BLAST and BLAT algorithms.
• RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis
• Gene expression profiling using quantitative PCR (QPCR) to evaluate health and stress of organisms in the wild: laboratory techniques and data analysis
• Introduction to molecular ecology and population genetics analyses including estimation of allele frequency of microsatellite loci, statistical analysis of population differentiation, coalescence approaches.
• Introduction to phylogenetic analysis. (MEGA, PAUP, Mr.Bayes, etc.)

Morning hours lectures (9:30 am ? noon) will be followed by laboratory practicals (1 pm till 7 pm), except the days dedicated to full-day or half-day excursions for specimens collection, either on board of research vessel ?Belomor? or from the shore on littoral zone. Exact schedule of field trips will be adjusted according to weather and tides.

Tentative list of lecturers

Dr. Ken Halianych  http://gump.auburn.edu/halanych/lab/
Dr. Mikhail Matz  http://www.biosci.utexas.edu/ib/faculty/matz.htm
Dr.Tatiana Azhikina (Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow) http://humgen.siobc.ras.ru/people/people.html
Dr.Tatiana Neretina (WSBS)
Dr.Anna Zhadan (WSBS)
Prof. Yuriy Lebedev (Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow) http://labcfg.ibch.ru/index.html
Dr. Nikolai Mugue (Institute of Developmental Biology RAS / VNIRO, Moscow) http://mugue.narod.ru

Expenses

The course tuition fee is 10000 Russian Rubles (equivalent of 240 EUR or 330 USD) The meal plan (three meals a day, army-style canteen) is 4000 RUR (~100 EUR) for the course (appr.7 EUR per day). Vegetarian options are not available, however fruits and vegetables may be ordered through the local dining hall service. The price of round trip train ticket (second-class, sleeping bench) from Moscow to Poyakonda is about 250 euro. Boat transfer from Poyakonda to the WSBS is free of charge for all course participants.

Limited number of student tuition fee waiver is provided by the Biological Department of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University upon request. Travel from Moscow and meal plan will not be covered by financial support and must be paid on site in Rubles. Visa fee and travel to Moscow is also paid by students. If you wish to apply for tuition fee waiver, please contact Ms. Tatiana Neretina at wsbs.school@gmail.com

Accommodation

WSBS provides dormitory accommodation for students (rooms for 4?6 people).Accomodation is included in course tuition.

Visa

International students are required to have entry visas for travel to the Russian Federation. Russian entry visa must be obtained from a Russian Embassy or Consulate in student?s country of residence. All supportive material for visa application will be sent upon acceptance to the course.

For participation in this school please fill the form and send it before March 30, 2010 to Ms. Tatiana Neretina at wsbs.school@gmail.com

Pre-registration Form

Name    ????????????????????????
Affiliation ???????????????????????
Taken classes ??????????????????????
Experience of fieldwork ??????????????????

Why are you interesting in this summer school?

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