Introduction to Special Topics in Ecology and Biodiversity- SHES 3388

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to Special Topics in Ecology and Biodiversity (SHES 3388)! In this course we will compare the ecology and biodiversity of tropical Malaysia with that of the temperate regions of the United States. Because I have worked on a variety of systems in temperate ecosystems and you have grown up and are learning ecology in a tropical country, this course offers an opportunity for us learn a great deal by working together and sharing our knowledge.

Instructor: Dr. Mark McGinley, Visiting Fulbright Scholar from the Honors College and Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, USA. You can learn more about me in the next post on this blog.

How Can You Contact Me?

The most reliable way to contact me is to either talk to me before or after class or to send me an email at mark.mcginley@ttu.edu.

If you have questions we can try to address them (1) either before or after lecture each week, (2) via email, or (3) by making an appointment to visit with me in my office. I am happy to meet with you to discuss lecture material, your group projects, your written assignments, life in the USA, American Football etc. To set up an appointment please send me a list of times when you are free to meet and I will let you know they best time for us to meet.

PLEASE INTERACT WITH ME! I have come to Malaysia from half way around the world to get to know Malaysians, and especially Malaysian college students. I will be disappointed if at the end of the term the only interaction I have had with you is watching your face during lectures!

Important Information About the Class

Class Time and Place
The class will meet on Wednesdays from 12:00 - 12:50 PM in room SA2.

Lecture Schedule: posted as separate post

Required Readings

There are no required textbooks on this course. Instead we will rely heavily on material from the internet. The readings will come from three main sources.

1. Ecology Reader: Ecology for Teachers (in the lecture schedule the readings from the Ecology Reader are noted as ER).
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecology_Reader-_Ecology_for_Teachers

This is an online textbook in Ecology that I developed for a class I taught to practicing school teachers. Most of this information is quite basic, but it should provide a reivew of important material and make sure that we are all at the same level of understanding.

2. Encyclopedia of Earth- (in the lecture schedule the readings from the Encyclopedia of Earth are noted as EoE.
http://www.eoearth.org/

3. Other locations on the internet.

Grading

Your performance in this class will be continously assessed throughout the term.

Your final grade will be determined as follows-

Assignments- 33.3%
Presentation- 33.3%
Writing Assignment- 33.3%

Assignments
There will be an assignment due every two weeks throughout the lecture portion of the course.

Maximum length. 1 typed page, double spaced.

Topic. What was the most important point/points of the previous lecture? How would you explain this point to your friends or family (I am assuming that your friends and family are intelligent people who are not experts in ecology and biodiversity). Why is important for a member of the general public to be aware of these concepts? What questions do you hae about the topic?

Presentations
You will work in small groups to prepare and deliver a short presentation (approx 15 minutes) to the class on a topic of your choice that relates to the material that we have addressed in class. I will provide more information about these presentations as these terms progress.

Written Assignment
You will participate in the Student Science Communication Project to allow you to write articles that could potentially be published in the Encyclopedia of Earth (and you would then be published authors!!).

The subject of these written assignments will be related to the subject of your class presentation. I will provide much more information and feedback about this written assignment as the term progresses.