| Biol 404: Ecological Methods - Some general information | |
Instructor: Dr. Diane
Srivastava
rm 4321 BioSci. Bldg
phone 822-1350
srivast@zoology.ubc.ca
Office hours: Weds 1-3 pm
Office hours: Weds 10-12 rm 3349
kordas@zoology.ubc.ca
Krebs, Charles J. 1999. Ecological Methodology (Second Edition). Benjamin Cummings.
Available in the UBC Bookstore, one copy on reserve in library. Indispensible for the budding ecologist.
This course will teach you both specific techniques and general theory of collecting, analyzing and interpreting ecological data. About half of the lectures and all the labs concern practical methods for estimating population and community measures. The other half of the lectures will discuss experimental design and analysis. You will do practical exercises in the field, in the lab, and on the computer.
Students who want to become professional ecologists, environmental consultants or experimental biologists. If you are intending such a career, this will be one of the most practical courses you ever take at UBC.
Am I qualified to take this course?
Yes, if you’ve taken Biol 300 and at least one of 302, 303, 304 (note: Biol 304 will not be offered until Winter 2009). We will briefly review some statistical concepts in the first or second week. After that, it is assumed that you remember the content of Biol 300!
You will be assessed in ways that ecologists are assessed in the real world, that is by your ability to think deeply about science and communicate these thoughts effectively. You will prepare professional-standard lab reports, peer-review manuscripts, and present research proposals. There is no exam in the course, rather you will be continuously assessed throughout the term. There are 7 substantial pieces of written work for this course (lab reports, research proposal, stats assignments). The workload for this course has always been heavy, as learning methods requires doing methods, which necessarily takes a lot of time. Please consider how this workload fits in with your other courses.
A note on collaborating with other students. Collaboration is an important part of science, and is to be encouraged. You should feel free to collaborate on the design, execution, and statistical analysis of your lab reports. However, the writing (text, tables, figures) must be done individually for me to assess you. Although you should feel free to discuss your statistics assignments with other classmates, I expect you to carry out the analyses and write the text individually. Be sure to cite all sources that you use extensively for information or ideas, otherwise it consistitutes plagarism, taken extremely seriously by both UBC and professional scientific community. Plagarism may result in a grade of zero in the course (see University Policy).
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