Course Syllabus
Wildlife
Ecology
and
Management
NRES 311
Spring 2008
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
School of Natural Resources
|
Instructor Larkin Powell, Associate Professor Office: 419 Hardin Hall Phone: 402.472.6825 Email: lpowell3@unl.edu |
Teaching Assistant Jen Hogue, SNR graduate student Email: jenhogue@bigred.unl.edu |
Course homepage
Course description
Wildlife ecology, conservation biology, population biology, and enhancement of wildlife populations through management. Emphasis on both game and nongame species, as well as management options that include human/wildlife interactions, habitat, and wildlife populations.
This course uses a problem-based learning format.
NRES 311 is especially designed for natural resources and biological sciences majors. The prerequisite for this course is NRES/BIOS 220 (Ecology).
Location
Lecture: MW 10:00-10:50
163 Hardin Hall, East Campus
Recitations: W, 11:00-11:50 or 12:00-12:50
23 Hardin Hall, East Campus
Textbook
Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, and Management, 2nd edition
by Sinclair, Fryxell, and Caughley; Blackwell Publishing
Grading
I use a definitional grading system in this course--a mix of pass/no-pass assignments, and material graded on a 0-100 scale. The intent is to determine if you have completed the learning objectives for the course.
For my grading model, click here.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
1. Express the impact of individual and societal values, or conservation ethic, in determining management policy.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of general ecological principles, such as succession, competition, and predation, as they affect fish and wildlife populations.
3. Effectively apply knowledge of the relationships of wildlife with various habitats.
4. Demonstrate an ability to apply general management principles to real problems in forest, grassland, and wetland ecosystems.
5. Demonstrate an ability to analyze wildlife population dynamics and structure, including the ability to evaluate the demographic and genetic structure of a population.
6. Develop a management plan for a threatened or endangered species, as well as an over-abundant species, with special attention to significant state and Federal legislation and regulations.
7. Integrate knowledge of ecological systems with management needs into a defendable position on a wildlife management decision.
This course will:
1. Provide an opportunity for students to discuss current issues and research in wildlife and fisheries management.
2. Expose students to professionals in state and Federal wildlife management agencies.
3. Provide experience working in teams to solve reality-based problems.
4. Provide each student with ecological knowledge base from which to operate as an effective wildlife biologist.
Cheating/plagiarism: Please review Section 4 of UNL's Student Code of Conduct for for definitions and warnings against cheating and plagiarism. UNL's policy on Academic Dishonesty states that a student may receive a sanction as severe as removal from a course with a failing grade for any type of Academic Dishonesty. My policy is: at the first detection of cheating or plagiarism, you will receive a failing grade on the assignment in question, and I will ask you to visit my office to discuss corrections to your work. Based on the case, I may also recommend a sanction beyond failing the assignment. If a second case occurs, you will be removed from the course with a failing grade. Remember that plagiarism goes beyond copying someone else’s work "word-for-word". It includes using ideas without proper citation. It is essential, therefore, that you acknowledge the ideas of other scientists (including your classmates) in all of your written work and reports. Failing to properly cite ideas is as critical as copying your friend’s homework. Why so strict? The intent of our Fisheries and Wildlife major is to produce honest, marketable students for the work place.
Attendance: Attendance is necessary to achieve a good grade in this course. In cases of deaths in the family or verified sickness (health center), I will allow you to reschedule a lecture exam at the earliest possible time. However, you MUST notify me before the scheduled exam. Because of the nature of field trips, discussions (recitations), and computer laboratories, it is not possible to "make them up". For excused absences, I will allow you to use a partner’s data, but you will only receive a maximum of a "3". Late learning reports will be accepted, but will receive a maximum of a "3". In general, when you choose to miss class, you choose to forfeit any points for assignments due at that time. See below for attendance requirements on the Sandhill Crane field trip.
Expectations: You will be expected to read the assigned readings in advance of each class period. This class uses 'student-centered' learning, which means you are responsible for finding much information--not relying on my mini-lectures. This will involve group meetings outside of class, as well as periods of individual library research. I will facilitate your group work through formation of Groups on Blackboard, and its use is encouraged. There may be occasions when you will need to complete a laboratory exercise on your own time. While all tests will be considered "comprehensive" (building on information gained earlier), each test (including the final) will focus primarily on the most recently-completed problem case(s).
Sandhill Crane field trip: One of the best learning experiences during the semester will be a field trip to view the Sandhill Crane migration (see schedule for date). We will travel to the Whooping Crane Trusts' blind for an educational session with their biologist and we will spend the early evening in the blind, watching the cranes return to the Platte River. We will be gone much of the day, so you need to plan in advance with your other instructors. This is a mandatory field trip, and there is no possibility to make up this trip. I will be happy to write a letter to each of your professors, explaining the reason for your absence from their classes on that day. Please let me know more than a week in advance, to allow time to write and send the letter to them. After the trip, you should prepare a 2-3 page report, sharing your thoughts on the experience, and detailing your learning experience. You will notice, on the grading model, that you must get an "4" on this report to get an "A" in the course.
UNL's Fifteenth Week Policy: This course adheres to UNL's policy, previously referred to as "Dead Week Policy". Note that our final exam will consist of a group project, as allowed by the policy. The policy states:
"Final examinations for full semester classes are to be given ONLY at the regularly scheduled time as published in the Official Schedule of Classes or at another time DURING FINALS WEEK mutually agreeable to all concerned.
"The only examinations that may be given during the last week (15th week) of classes are: laboratory practical examinations, make-up or repeat examinations, and self-paced examinations. However, the following must be applied:
"Projects, papers, and speeches scheduled for completion during the last week (15th week) of classes must have been assigned in writing by the end of the eighth week. This stipulation refers to the project and its scope, but not the topic. Moreover, ALL requirements, except for the final exam, must be completed no later than Wednesday of the fifteenth week. However, if the instructor has assigned a project, paper, or speech by the eighth week to replace the final, then the project, paper, or speech may be completed any time in the 15th week or finals. The exception to this is a class meeting one day a week on a Thursday or Friday for which all policies/requirements are shifted to either a Thursday or Friday, respectively."
Participation in UNL's Peer Review of Teaching Project
The professor of this course has been nominated to take part in the Peer Review Project, a University-wide, on-going attempt to develop new and better methods for promoting student learning. Your professor will be asked to evaluate his/her syllabus, exams, class activities and written assignments. He/She will also receive feedback from other faculty members regarding teaching plans and how they are carried out. One of the project's ultimate goals is to improve student learning, and we cannot accomplish this goal without student input.
Your professor will be asked to select several students whose work would be copied and included in his/her course portfolio as an archive of student performance for the course. These examples are a very important piece of the project for professors to show how much and how deeply students are learning. Once the course portfolio is completed, it will be put on a project website: www.courseportfolio.org so that it can be shared, used, and reviewed by other faculty.