Current Courses:

NR 603: Landscape Ecology
Fall Semester
Landscape ecology focuses on the relationships between scale, spatial pattern, and ecological processes. Emphasis will be placed on landscape perspectives and practices as they relate to understanding and managing populations and communities. Through lecture, discussion and lab exercises, this course will explore: (1) the concept and importance of scale in assessing pattern and process, (2) abiotic and biotic drivers of landscape patterns including land-use legacies and disturbance regimes, (3) how landscape structure is characterized (e.g., patch metrics), (4) how populations and communities are structured across the landscape and respond to landscape change (e.g., patch size and heterogeneity, ecotones, connectivity/fragmentation, landscape context, metapopulation and metacommunity theory), and (5) management and conservation issues at the landscape scale.
Syllabus

NR 712: Mammalogy
Spring Semester (even years)
This lecture and lab course provides an overview of the evolutionary history, adaptations, diversity, and ecology of mammals. You will be introduced to the groups of mammals through the interplay of structure and function over evolutionary time, and an emphasis on natural history, physiology, behavioral ecology, community ecology, and conservation. Familiarity of mammalian groups to the family level and identification of local fauna to species will be expected.
Syllabus

NR 642: Biogeography
Spring Semester (odd years)
Biogeography is the study of the present and past distribution of biodiversity. It is inherently multidisciplinary, integrating data and approaches across many fields within the physical and natural sciences. In this course, you will learn about the abiotic (geological and climatological) and biotic (ecological and evolutionary) factors that govern the assembly of species diversity across space and through time.
Syllabus