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Currently I teach three courses on a
regular basis. The course descriptions appear below along with a statement
of objectives for each course. For information on student involvement in
research see the student section of this web site.
BIOL 202 BIOLOGY II:
INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION AND
BEHAVIOR (4) Population dynamics, community patterns and processes, natural
selection, population genetics and behavioral ecology; emphasis on developing
testable hypotheses and quantitative analyses of biological data. Prerequisite:
BIOL 110 or BIOL 112 or BIOL 201 or high school General Biology. GenEd II.A.1.
Objectives:
The objective of this course is to introduce you
to the following general
fields
of biology: evolution, ecology, behavior. Emphasis will be placed on
learning and being able to apply the key concepts on which the study of
evolution, ecology, and behavior are framed. More specific areas covered include
population dynamics, community patterns and processes, natural selection,
population genetics, and behavioral ecology. Laboratory exercises will emphasize
developing testable hypotheses, gathering biological data, and quantitative
analyses of data using personal computers and the EXCEL®
spreadsheet program.
BIOL 310 [510] CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(4)
Application
of ecological theory to conservation of biological diversity.
Exploration of past/present processes leading to and maintaining
biological diversity and how such processes are impacted by human disturbance.
Prerequisites:
BIOL 110 or BIOL 201, BIO 202, BIOL 205, and BIOL 207 and 10 hours of biology or a
combination of 10 hours from biology, geography and physical sciences.
Objectives:
The objective of this course is to introduce you to the science of conservation
biology, most specifically, the application of basic principles of traditional
ecology, landscape ecology, genetics, and behavior to the understanding,
management and conservation of biological diversity. The course emphasizes
development of critical thinking skills to evaluate and synthesize information
for solving problems of diversity and scarcity. The course covers three broad
areas: 1) description and distribution of biodiversity; 2) threats to
biodiversity; and 3) solutions to the biodiversity crisis.
Conservation biology as a multidisciplinary science, incorporating social
sciences as well as biological and physical sciences, is emphasizes during
several portions of the course.
BIO 654 LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY (3)
Spatial and
temporal landscape heterogeneity; how it arises, its quantification and its
influence on population, community and ecosystem dynamics over multiple scales.
Prerequisites: BIO 435 or other upper-level undergraduate course with
substantial ecological content.
Objectives:
The objective of this course is to introduce you to the science of
landscape ecology including the problems of scale, quantification of spatial and
temporal landscape heterogeneity, and its influence on population, community and
ecosystem dynamics.
Understanding the effects of scale and defining the appropriate scale of
investigation is a central concern in landscape ecology and will be discussed in
detail throughout the course.
As part of your introduction to landscape ecology you will gain access to
the primary literature by reading and discussing articles that reinforce the
material presented in lecture.
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