Global Change Biology

Catalog description

In Global Change Biology, students will read, reflect, discuss, and write about how biological systems interface with environmental changes that impact our planet – with a focus on responses happening now (in ecological time) as well as long-term responses to environmental shifts (reflecting evolutionary trends). Class and homework will integrate research in ecology, evolution and environmental science. Examples of topics to be discussed may include the evolutionary and ecological determinants of biological responses to environmental shifts, ecosystem and biome collapse (tipping points), biological adaptations to global and local change, and how to promote the sustainability of ecological and evolutionary functions and services. Students are expected to work on individual and group research, oral presentations, and writing assignments.