Zoogeography              Course Info         Winter Term 2 – 2021

Welcome to Zoogeography! This course is best suited for 3rd and 4th year students with a basic background and interests in ecology, evolution and geography. We will cover topics on the history of biogeography, climate and climate change, species distributions, speciation and extinction, evolutionary lineages and island biogeography, to name a few key areas. Classes are a combination of lecture and in-class discussion based on assigned readings. You are expected to be familiar with reading and critiquing scientific literature relevant to course material and to conduct literature searches for your assignments.

Instructor: Jill Jankowski
Office hours: Post on Piazza, or by online appointment
Office: Online
Email: jankowsk@biodiversity.ubc.ca

Teaching Assistant: Mannfred Boehm
Office hours: Post questions on Piazza
Office: Online
Email: mannfred.boehm@botany.ubc.ca

Marking Breakdown:
Canvas assignments                    25%
Mid-term Exam                           20%
Term Paper                                 30%
Final Exam                                   25%

Exams: There are two exams in the course: a mid-term and a final exam. The general format for both exams is short answer and essay. The midterm exam is scheduled during class, on the Friday before Winter break. The final exam will be during the finals weeks and the time and place will be announced as soon as it is known.

Policy on Missed Exams: Exams can be made up only if I am notified before the exam is given. If you cannot take the exam at the scheduled time, you can arrange to take the exam beforehand. In the case of unforeseeable circumstances, marks may be adjusted to make up for a missed exam.

Discussion Groups and Paper Assignments:NOTE THAT WE WILL BE MIGRATING THE COURSE OVER TO CANVAS - BY JAN 20TH (ASSIGNMENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE POSTED IN CANVAS). On Friday's, we will typically have tutorials and discussion groups, rather than lecture. (We're still finalizing the Discussion/Tutorial schedule and assignments).
Assigned Readings & Assignments: There will be ~5 paper assignments with discussion groups to provide in-depth coverage of major topics in the course. For these discussions, we will provide a brief summary of the paper at the beginning of class, followed by a discussion among students in groups of four-five. You should come to class having read the paper and with at least three of your own questions to facilitate discussion within your groups. Following discussion you will submit answers to a series of questions that we provide for you. These assignments will constitute the 25% Journal Assignment mark for the course.
Tutorials & Workshops: For ~4 of our Friday sessions, we will be doing exercises using R. These activities (with assignments) are structured to give you with a working knowledge of R and also to help you with components of your Term Paper Assignment.

Term Paper Assignment: For your term paper, you will choose an animal species, genus or family, and describe the natural distribution, habitat use and phylogeny of its groups (e.g., subspecies, species or genera). You will also summarize the current understanding of events and processes that have resulted in their distribution (i.e., the hypothesized phylogeographic history). We will spend lectures during the first part of the term on fundamental concepts in biogeography, which you can use to develop your paper. This assignment, including the outline and final draft, will be 30% of the mark for the course.
 
Required Texts: There is no required textbook for Zoogeography. An excellent option for a textbook is Biogeography by Mark Lomolino, Brett Riddle and James Brown. There are two copies of this textbook reserved at Woodward Library. Many of the themes in lecture will overlap with material in this book.
 
Literature Search: Students will become familiar with primary literature in this course. References for case studies and examples used in lecture are listed at the end of each section. Accessing and searching literature databases will also be an important component of your term paper. Web of Science and Google Scholar are two reliable search engines that you can use, but there are many others out there.

Plagiarism: There is zero tolerance for plagiarism in any form. Writing will be a major component of work in this course, through your assignments and term paper. It is critical that you generate your own ideas and give proper credit for the ideas of others. Please refer to the following UBC website for information regarding plagiarism and academic integrity: http://learningcommons.ubc.ca/resource-guides/avoiding-plagiarism/