The goal of the project is to introduce computer- and video- based image acquisition and processing into undergraduate laboratory and field exercises, and especially to introduce a variety of quantitative image analysis methods into those laboratories. The specific laboratory exercises affected include: (1) protist competition and predator-prey interactions using software for cell identification and counting; (2) identification of invertebrate nerve cells during intracellular recording using simple imaging and object measurement techniques; (3) testing of theories of growth and development using computer morpho-metric techniques; and (4) quantification of organism distribution patterns. Laboratory exercises are under development that focus on the use of digital image processing in animal behavior studies.
