Experimental Field Biology

Catalog description

This is a practical introduction to modern design of field studies and experiments in terrestrial and fresh water habitats. This is an outdoor course almost as much as a classroom one. Be prepared to go outside, develop the power of observation, and discover. Emphasis is given to learning scientific skills via active-learning methods. Students will learn to formulate research questions, and develop adequate hypotheses and study designs and experiments to test hypothesis using statistics. Students will be guided step-by-step to perform basic and advanced data analyses: from data tables and frames, to parametric, non-parametric, and multivariate statistical methods used in everyday biology and ecology research driven hypothesis-testing approaches. Each week the class meets in the classroom (Tuesdays) for discussion-format lectures, and on lab day (Thursdays) the class goes out into the field to collect data and perform experiments. Primary scientific literature will be read and discussed in the context of the lectures and field exercises. Specific Learning activities include the ecology of natural communities including terrestrial and aquatic, seed dispersal and seed ecology, predation, foraging ecology, pollination, fruit-eating mutualisms, and population census methods. Student evaluations are based on participation, engagement, oral presentations, and written reports (no exams given in this class). At least one field trip involves staying overnight in a natural area. Specific topics covered in this class are: asking questions in science, designs of studies and experiments, ecological data collection techniques, data storing methods, statistical analyses (univariate to multivariate), graphical representation of results, oral presentation skills, research ethics, and writing and publication skills and techniques.