<p>
	<em>In this three-part series, Au Sable has asked three students who took out &#39;Molecular Tools for the Field Biologist&#39; course to describe their journey into molecular ecology.&nbsp;Biological science is a dynamic and ever-changing discipline, full of new and emerging areas. To keep our students at the forefront of environmental work, Au Sable began a class focusing on the revolutionary changes taking place in environmental and ecological science through molecular genetics. As the testimonies attest, Molecular Tools makes traditional naturalists uneasy at the thought, but quickly wins over students who see how it can be used to make a powerful difference in ecology, systematics, and conservation.</em></p>
<h2>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}tommy_mcelrath_research-150pxl(1).png" style="width: 150px; height: 203px; float: right;" />Tommy McElrath (Covenant College) - PhD candidate, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia</h2>
<p>
	I&rsquo;ve never liked molecular biology. I&rsquo;ve always idealized the traditional naturalist from the good old days. So when I was encouraged to take &#39;Molecular Tools for the Field Biologist&#39; back in the summer of 2010, I was skeptical, to say the least.</p>
<p>
	Fortunately, I decided to take the class anyway. What I found was that this class really brought molecular biology alive, connecting the dots between the abstract biochemistry of DNA and proteins into the traditional field work of collection, observation, and natural history. Molecular tools opened my eyes to the world of using molecules and cellular biology to bolster our knowledge at every other level of biology, from the naming and organization of species to the ecology of populations and their conservation.</p>
<p>
	The crux of the class was that it shattered the misconceptions a field biologist like me had about the molecular and biochemical realms of biology. I thought that molecular biology could only be used for questions posed at the molecular level. Through this course though, I realized it could help to answer questions that I was deeply interested in. Such questions as, &ldquo;How do these two organisms relate to each other?&rdquo; or &ldquo;Is this population of endangered mammals fit enough to survive?&rdquo; Questions that seem like obviously non-molecular questions can actually be informed by molecules like DNA.</p>
<p>
	Molecular tools doesn&rsquo;t just lecture you on this new world of molecular ecology either. In traditional Au Sable style, it takes you out into the field. When I was a student, we each got to ask questions about organisms we were interested in, collect them, and use current, modern molecular techniques to try and answer those questions. The basic techniques and methods taught in that class are the same basic ones in labs across the world, but instead of sitting in the lab the whole time (although you will do that), you&rsquo;ll get a healthy dose of tromping in the field like every Au Sable course.</p>
<p>
	In the field I now focus on in graduate school, taxonomy and systematics, the theories and methods I learned in molecular tools have been invaluable. Systematics can be broadly defined as the naming and organization of species and higher level taxa. It may seem like a field that should be dominated by archaic methods advocated by traditional naturalists and grand old masters. In fact, most grant money and papers being accepted today are going to those incorporating molecular methods into their proposals. And although by no means is traditional taxonomy going away, molecular tools in my field are now essential for understanding and operating in the scientific community. In fact, molecular tools have allowed modern taxonomists to unravel problems and questions that have plagued the community for decades, if not centuries. Thousands of species have been described with the help of molecular tools now, and it is quite likely that they will be a mainstay in my field from now on.</p>
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	This all goes without saying that this class is taught at Au Sable and that molecular tools futhers Au Sable&rsquo;s mission of advancing Christian environmental stewardship. We can&rsquo;t care for the creation if we don&rsquo;t understand it, and molecular tools allowed me to understand the creation at a whole new level. So I&rsquo;d encourage you, whether you are on the fence about taking molecular tools, or even dead-set against it - take this course. It can only help you, and it might just make a molecular biologist out of you yet!</p>
