BI112 and BI231/232/233
Chemeketa Community College
Welcome!
I teach BI 112: Cell Biology for Health Organizations and BI231/232/233: Anatomy and Physiology at Chemeketa Community College. You will find information and syllabi for all my classes on this site.
I'm very excited to have you in class this term! I've been exploring biology since I was in a lab just like you'll be experiencing...though I did find myself working in a research lab cleaning up fish poop shortly after, so take that as you will.
Both 112 and A&P will be challenging courses but I want you to know that I am here to help you navigate your way through them. Please reach out to me if I can help you - it is much better to ask early and often, rather than later and rarely, even if it feels uncomfortable (this is one of the biggest pieces of advice I wish I could give my younger self).
Contact Information
Zac Kohl
zkohl@chemeketa.edu; 503.399.6514
I try to answer emails as soon as possible but will reply within 48 hours. If you have not received a response, it is because I've missed it somehow. Please send me a follow up email and I will reply ASAP.
Office: Building 8, Room 221V
Office Hours: See Open Lab Schedule
About this site
Bookmark this! This site will serve as the syllabus for this course. You will find critical information about course policies, schedules, expectations, advice, and resources that will help you succeed throughout the term.
You can navigate to your course syllabus and materials page using the drop-down menu on the top right of the screen.
Important Dates
Dropping
Last day to drop with a refund: April 12
Last day to request Pass/No Pass/Audit: April 29
Last day to Withdraw without a grade: April 29
College Holidays (no class if on normal meeting day)
May 27
About Zac
You can call me Zac, Professor Kohl, Instructor Kohl, Mr. Kohl, etc. I don't mind at all as long as we treat each other with respect.
I grew up in Beaverton, OR, and moved to Portland while earning my BS and MS at PSU. I began teaching Anatomy and Physiology in 2007 for PSU and then taught at Clark College and several PCC campuses. I moved to Texas in 2011 where I continued to teach mostly A & P except for two years, one living in Denmark while researching alligator hemoglobin and the other in Bonaire (near Aruba) teaching at a marine ecology research station. Now I live near Salem with two dogs, Bip and Elroy.
My research experience began with studying South American killifish from Venezuela as an undergrad at PSU. Their eggs can survive prolonged anoxia (no oxygen), dehydration, massive temperature swings, and intense radiation that would kill or severely impair almost any other developing vertebrate. I then studied amphibians with different ecological niches that represented progressively greater reliance on lungs for gas exchange. That project led into developmental cardiovascular physiology in alligators, snapping turtles, and chickens focusing on the impacts of blood viscosity changes during development. I also dabbled in research on adaptions to exercise in cheetahs and carbon dioxide tolerance in fishes. In 2017, I traveled to Bonaire to teach scientific diving and marine conservation biology while doing research on a poorly known but globally distributed parasite, Scaphanocephalus expansus, of fish and osprey (infected surgeonfish on left; A, B, and C). I just returned from a whirlwind trip through several Caribbean islands on a follow-up 'expedition' to search for more fish infected with S. expansus.
I've been collaborating with another researcher, Pieter Johnson, from CU Boulder to better understand this parasite. Dr. Johnson also did some very interesting research on a different parasite that infects frogs in Oregon and Washington, the video below gives a great explanation (he filmed a good portion of this):