Ecological and Environmental Problem Solving

Catalog description

Overview of processes involved in solving environmental problems. Provides students with toolkit for understanding ecological and environmental problems. Untitled Document BIOL 519 Ecological and Environmental Problem Solving (4) The course will provide a general overview of the process involved in studying a variety of ecological and environmental problems. It will provide a toolbox of techniques for understanding ecological and environmental problems, and discuss how they can be used to address questions and generate testable predictions. It will examine connections between individuals and populations and communities as well as between theory and data. The focus will be on theoretical and computer modeling approaches, while maintaining a strong link to data and real systems.After an introduction to modeling, students will learn to develop and use simple and stochastic optimization models for individual organisms, as well as applying basic game theory to interactions between individuals. Many of the class meetings will be held in computer laboratories where they will be actively engaged in working on applying these models. They will explore a sequence of population demographic models of increasing complexity, ranging from unlimited unstructured population growth to density-dependent, structured population growth, in non-spatial and spatial contexts, culminating an individual-based models for population dynamics. The students will then apply these models to interacting species, learning about mutualistic, competitive and host-natural enemy interactions. Finally, we will explore theory for communities of species in space and time. Applied problems will be drawn from all areas of conservation, harvesting, pest control and epidemiology.Graduate students will additionally be required to attend a once a week case study, where we will focus on a paper from the recent literature that uses the techniques or theory learned that week in class. Additionally, graduates will develop models of their own, based on their own research, or on some other subject of interest. They will be expected to meet with me twice in a group and individually during office hours throughout the semester, to discuss the development of their projects. They will have to complete a written report on the motivation, model development, and results and implications of their work. This work will take the form of a short manuscript (as if for publication to a representative journal in their field). They will also have to make a verbal presentation to the entire class on their project (15 minutes, as if attending a professional conference). The course will be offered once/year.