Ecological and Environmental Problem Solving

Catalog description

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. 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 in 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 throughout the semester. No modeling experience is necessary as the course will start from basic principles.