Mark our words – Bio 160.1 will be one of the most enjoyable classes in your whole BS journey! Our activities over the course of the semester will be focused on learning field techniques and how to design and execute your own ecological study. We will do our best to be creative and effective in teaching you ecological concepts and how to apply them to our local contexts. Please don’t hesitate to give comments and feedback as we go through the semester. We are also eager to learn from you how to make this course as fulfilling and insightful as possible.
This course will tackle the practical applications of ecological concepts and principles through field and classroom exercises on the diversity and dynamics of terrestrial and aquatic communities. Ecology is central to understanding a lot of the problems humanity is facing today and is poised to face in the future, and in finding solutions that would allow us to sustain the Earth, ourselves, and future generations. We think nothing is more exciting than that.
After completing this course, you should be able to…
1. Assess the quality of the parts of a scientific paper;
2. Correlate species distribution and abundance with species life history, environmental resources, and conditions;
3. Demonstrate the use of common terrestrial and aquatic sampling methods;
4. Formulate meaningful hypotheses from patterns observed in nature;
5. Design sound ecological research to test hypotheses;
6. Perform ecological research by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data;
7. Develop positive work attitude, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills;
8. Effectively communicate ecological research in oral and written media; and
9. Formulate ecologically-sound approaches to prevailing environmental problems.
- Teacher: Vince Angelo Gicaraya