I am currently teaching three courses: BIOL 267 (Biodiversity Science and Applications), BIOL 187 (Field Ecology), and BIOL 112 (Fundamentals of Ecology and Evolution). In addition, I am happy to lead graduate seminars and serve as an Independent Study instructor for undergraduates on any topic that relates to my research.
I have been co-teaching BIOL 267 with Jim Clark every fall. This graduate level course addresses the fundamental question: Why do we observe the diversity of organisms, how did it get there, and what maintains that diversity? These questions lead us to analyze how organisms interact within populations, how populations interact in communities, and how those interactions are regulated by the physical environment. Understanding the controls on populations is critical for developing sustainable harvest strategies, for anticipating exotic invasions, for biological control of pest species, for managing rare and endangered species and their habitats, and for preserving biodiversity in the face of rapid global change. In this course we examine the "state-of-the-art", including goals of biodiversity science, how those goals are approached, what we have learned, and how they are applied in management and conservation. We see many examples where poor understanding of science stands in the way of progress on pressing environmental problems. The course will consist of lecture meetings and a lab section that will be used for field trips. Currently the course is being revised and will be move to being offered every other year.
BIOL 187 as a course for senior undergraduates offered every other fall. The course covers topics in ecosystem, community, and physiological ecology of temperate plants and animals through hands-on experimentation. We will address questions of how biological processes are affected by biotic interactions. Theory and methods are reviewed through discussions, while hypothesis formulation, experimental design, data acquisition and processing, and data analysis are learned through field investigation. The course includes several field trips, including two weekends.
In Biol 112 we examine what controls the distribution and abundance of organisms; the ways in which organisms interact with one another; and how organisms collectively control the chemistry, the physical structure and the climate of our planet. Throughout the course we will emphasize the ways in which our species is fundamentally altering the structure and function of ecosystems at local, regional and global scales. Each class begins with a discussion of a “graph or figure of the day” that did not appear in the text but that reinforces a critical point of the assigned chapter. Each class period will open with partner / small group discussion followed by class discussion of the key graph/figure. The daily reinforcement of graph interpretation and analysis together with the opportunity to discuss competing explanations for the same relationships provide practice with the critical thinking and evaluation skills that are the chief goal of the class and which will be the primary theme of exams. Much of each class will be devoted to discussing and explaining the experiments and observations described in the textbook using the original graphs / tables of the primary authors. This can be done in small groups as well as with the full class. Occasionally student presenters will be called upon to explain graphs / experiments / interpretations to the entire class. We will place great emphasis on developing a null model, a predicted outcome and comparing both to the actual data acquired. Wherever possible – lectures will include recent news items that directly relate to the subject matter at hand – emphasizing the relevance of ecological understanding to daily life. Recitation sections will supplement the text with on campus “field” trips, simulation model exercises or discussion of primary literature.
I have been co-teaching BIOL 267 with Jim Clark every fall. This graduate level course addresses the fundamental question: Why do we observe the diversity of organisms, how did it get there, and what maintains that diversity? These questions lead us to analyze how organisms interact within populations, how populations interact in communities, and how those interactions are regulated by the physical environment. Understanding the controls on populations is critical for developing sustainable harvest strategies, for anticipating exotic invasions, for biological control of pest species, for managing rare and endangered species and their habitats, and for preserving biodiversity in the face of rapid global change. In this course we examine the "state-of-the-art", including goals of biodiversity science, how those goals are approached, what we have learned, and how they are applied in management and conservation. We see many examples where poor understanding of science stands in the way of progress on pressing environmental problems. The course will consist of lecture meetings and a lab section that will be used for field trips. Currently the course is being revised and will be move to being offered every other year.
BIOL 187 as a course for senior undergraduates offered every other fall. The course covers topics in ecosystem, community, and physiological ecology of temperate plants and animals through hands-on experimentation. We will address questions of how biological processes are affected by biotic interactions. Theory and methods are reviewed through discussions, while hypothesis formulation, experimental design, data acquisition and processing, and data analysis are learned through field investigation. The course includes several field trips, including two weekends.
In Biol 112 we examine what controls the distribution and abundance of organisms; the ways in which organisms interact with one another; and how organisms collectively control the chemistry, the physical structure and the climate of our planet. Throughout the course we will emphasize the ways in which our species is fundamentally altering the structure and function of ecosystems at local, regional and global scales. Each class begins with a discussion of a “graph or figure of the day” that did not appear in the text but that reinforces a critical point of the assigned chapter. Each class period will open with partner / small group discussion followed by class discussion of the key graph/figure. The daily reinforcement of graph interpretation and analysis together with the opportunity to discuss competing explanations for the same relationships provide practice with the critical thinking and evaluation skills that are the chief goal of the class and which will be the primary theme of exams. Much of each class will be devoted to discussing and explaining the experiments and observations described in the textbook using the original graphs / tables of the primary authors. This can be done in small groups as well as with the full class. Occasionally student presenters will be called upon to explain graphs / experiments / interpretations to the entire class. We will place great emphasis on developing a null model, a predicted outcome and comparing both to the actual data acquired. Wherever possible – lectures will include recent news items that directly relate to the subject matter at hand – emphasizing the relevance of ecological understanding to daily life. Recitation sections will supplement the text with on campus “field” trips, simulation model exercises or discussion of primary literature.
