Proposal Topic – Due Proposal Topic – Due Topic Choices (2 points) Part one of the term paper will be your topic choice. Choose a current problem in evolutionary biology that could be approached with a research plan. Look in the textbook, journals that focus on evolutionary biology and science media if you are having trouble coming up with ideas. Examples may include comparative phylogenetic studies of parasites and their hosts, testing the predictions of sex allocation theory with a group of organisms, examining how changes in development or phenotypic plasticity influence the fitness of an organism or answering why gene frequencies change over a species’ geographic range. The entire field of evolutionary biology is open to you, so this is your chance to be creative. Requirements at this stage include a few sentences on the science background of your topic (i.e. a short summary of the problem and what work has been done by researchers so far) and a few more sentences about the hypotheses you will be testing and your proposed research plan. One paragraph should be enough; specific details are not required at this time. I will review your topic and if necessary suggest alterations to make the project more feasible. If you are really stuck, visit me in my office hours and I will help you narrow down your field (and give you some background reading in an area of interest). Optional: If you are having trouble deciding between topics, you can include two or three topics and I will suggest which ideas I think are most interesting. If you find the focus of your paper evolves, that is okay, but check with me if it changes drastically.
