2013-14 Undergraduate Index A-Z
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Natural History [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days of Week | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Nancy Parkes and Hirsh Diamant
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | In this two-quarter, interdisciplinary program, we will cultivate a “Sense of Wonder” while building skills as writers, activists, artists, and interdisciplinary scholars. Our work will combine theory and practice as we delve into the rich areas of literature, cultural studies, writing, creative arts, contemplative practice, natural history, and environmental/outdoor education. We will explore how we develop roots to the natural world and explore themes related to natural history literature, the Pacific Northwest, and global multicultural traditions that have an intimate connection to place. At the core of our inquiry will be the questions: What enlivens Culture? What motivates change? Working from a rich, interdisciplinary perspective, we will study what it means to be rooted to place and how place connects us to a deep sense of purpose and meaning through word and image, language and tradition, stories and activism, and education and scholarship.Program expectations for education and scholarship: By the end of the two-quarter study, students will: | Nancy Parkes Hirsh Diamant | Mon Wed Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Dennis Hibbert
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Course | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 4 | 04 | Weekend | S 14Spring | There are so many people — and environmental problems — because we control our food supply. Population growth accelerated as the last ice age waned and agriculture emerged separately in the Middle East, East Asia, southern Mexico, and the Amazon basin. We will study the world at that time and the evidence for agriculture's beginnings, drawing on archaeology, geology, palaeobotany, geochemistry, and climatology. We will then watch the project we began come to be today's world. | Dennis Hibbert | Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Heather Heying
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | What do animals do, how do they do it and why? In this two-quarter-long investigation of animal behavior, a continuation of Genes and Evolution in fall quarter, students will answer these questions through extensive use of the scientific literature, in-depth discussions of the evolutionary and ecological theories fundamental to the study of behavior, independent research projects and several weeks in the field, including a multi-week trip to tropical ecosystems in Ecuador.Animals hibernate, forage, mate, form social groups, compete, communicate, care for their young and so much more. They do so with the tools of their physiology, anatomy, and, in some cases, culture, for reasons having to do with their particular ecology and evolutionary history. In this program, we will begin with a review of animal diversity, and continue our studies of behavior from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. Students will be expected to engage some of the complex and often contradictory scientific predictions and results that have been generated in this field through lectures, workshops and take-home exams, as well as undertake their own, intensive field research. Some topics covered in this program will include mating systems, territoriality, female mate choice, competition, communication, parental care, game theory, plant/animal interactions and convergent evolution. Several readings will focus on one group of animals in particular: the primates, including Continuing the focus on theory and statistics begun in Genes and Evolution, we will travel to Ecuador to study the differences and similarities between the neotropics and the Pacific Northwest, focusing on the animals and their behavior. Particular attention will be paid to the herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles) that live in lowland rainforests. In spring quarter, having studied the methods, statistics and literature frequently used in behavioral research, students will generate their own hypotheses and go into the field to test them through extensive, independent field research. This work might be in Ecuador or the Pacific Northwest. Students will return to campus for the last two weeks of spring quarter to complete their data analysis and present their research. | Heather Heying | Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | ||||
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Alison Styring
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Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 14Winter | Birds are considered important indicators of habitat quality and are often the focus of conservation-oriented research, restoration, and monitoring. A variety of field and analytical methods commonly used in bird monitoring and avian research will be covered. Theory will be applied to practice in the field and lab where students will develop skills in fieldwork, data management, and statistical analysis. Students will demonstrate their learning through active participation in all class activities; a detailed field journal; in-class, take-home, and field assignments; and a final project. An understanding of avian natural history is important to any successful project, and students without a working knowledge of the common birds in the South Puget Sound region are expected to improve their identification skills to a level that will allow them to effectively contribute to class efforts both in the field and in class. | Alison Styring | Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | |||||
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Frederica Bowcutt
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | This two-quarter program allows students to learn introductory and advanced plant science material in an interdisciplinary format. The program is suitable for both advanced and first year students who are looking for an opportunity to expand their understanding of plants and challenge themselves. Students will learn about plant anatomy, morphology and systematics. Lectures based on textbook readings will be supplemented with laboratory work. The learning community will explore how present form and function informs us about the evolution of major groups of plants such as mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants. Students will get hands-on experience studying plants under microscopes and in the field. To support their work in the field and lab, students will learn how to maintain a detailed and illustrated nature journal. Instruction will be given in the history and practice of botanical illustration.A central focus of the program is people's relationships with plants for food, fiber, medicine and aesthetics. Economic botany will be studied through seminar texts, films, and lectures that examine agriculture, forestry, herbology and horticulture. Students will examine political economic factors that shape our relations with plants. Through economic and historical lenses, the learning community will inquire about why people have favored some plants and not others or radically changed their preferences, for example considering a former cash crop to be a weed. Readings will examine the significant roles botany has played in colonialism, imperialism and globalization. Students will also investigate the gender politics of botany. For example, botany was used to inculcate "appropriate" middle and upper class values among American women in the 19th century. Initiatives to foster more socially just and environmentally sustainable relations with plants will be investigated.In winter, students will write a major research paper on a plant of their choosing. Through a series of workshops, they will learn to search the scientific literature, manage bibliographic data and interpret and synthesize information, including primary sources. Through their research paper, students will synthesize scientific and cultural information about their plant. | Frederica Bowcutt | Mon Tue Wed Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Dennis Hibbert
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Course | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 4 | 04 | Weekend | S 14Spring | If it weren't for extinction we wouldn't be here—speciation and extinction frame the history of life. We will take extinction as our topic and study it in the context of the history of animals with backbones, aiming to learn its causes. We will then examine the ongoing accelerated loss of biodiversity, looking to tease out which of the factors causing it are of human origin. | Dennis Hibbert | Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Dylan Fischer and Alison Styring
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 14Spring | This program is designed to provide a premier hands-on experience on learning how to conduct field science in ecology at the advanced undergraduate level. We will focus on group and individual field research to address patterns in ecological composition, structure and function in natural environments. Students will participate in field trips to local and remote field sites and they will be expected to develop multiple independent and group research projects. A small group of 16 students will also participate in a 16-day boat trip through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River where they will conduct individual and group research. Students will be selected for the Grand Canyon experience based on an application available in winter quarter.We will work as a community to develop and implement field projects based on: 1) workshops that will train students in rapid observation and field data collection; 2) participation in large multi-year studies based in Washington and more distant field sites; and 3) student originated short- and long-term studies. Students will focus on field sampling, natural history and library research to develop workable field data collection protocols. Students will implement observation- and hypothesis-driven field projects. We will then learn to analyze ecological data using laboratory and statistical analytical approaches. Students will demonstrate their research and analytical skills via writing and presentation of group and individual research projects. Student manuscripts will be "crystallized" through a series of intensive, multi-day paper-writing workshops. Students will also give public presentations of their research work.Specific topics of study will include community and ecosystem ecology, plant physiology, forest structure, ecological restoration, riparian ecology, fire disturbance effects, bird abundance and monitoring, insect-plant interactions, disturbance ecology and the broad fields of bio-complexity and ecological interactions. We will emphasize identification of original field research problems in diverse habitats, experimentation, data analysis, oral presentation of findings and writing in journal format. | Dylan Fischer Alison Styring | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | |||||
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Frederica Bowcutt
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 14Spring | This program fosters the skills needed for field work in the fields of floristics and plant ecology particularly vegetation studies. Students will learn how to use Hitchcock and Cronquist's , a technical key for identifying unknown plants. We will spend time in the field and laboratory discussing diagnostic characters of plant families. Seminar readings will be focused on floristics, biogeography and vegetation ecology. Students will learn how to collect and prepare herbarium specimens and apply this knowledge to a collaborative research project. Students will also learn about herbarium curation.A multi-day field trip to the Columbia River Gorge will give students an opportunity to learn about Pacific Northwest plant communities in the field, including prairies, oak woodlands and coniferous forests. Students will be expected to maintain a detailed field journal and will be taught basic botanical illustration skills to support this work. Through the field trip, students will learn qualitative vegetation sampling methods and how to analyze their observations. The field trip is required.Students who successfully complete the course will earn 16 units of upper-division science credit in field plant taxonomy, vegetation ecology of the Pacific Northwest, and floristic research. | Frederica Bowcutt | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | |||||
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Peter Impara
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | How do we manage the habitat of mammals and birds, especially endangered species, in the Pacific Northwest? Mammals and birds are intelligent, complex animals that often have very specific habitat needs for successful living and reproduction. They interact in very elaborate ways with members of their species, other species, and with the landscape as a whole. A detailed understanding of habitat needs and how these habitats are distributed across the landscape is crucial to managing landscape to ensure future survival of particular species.This upper-division program will focus on examining and analyzing the habitat needs of specific species. Students will learn, develop and apply an intricate interdisciplinary suite of knowledge and techniques that include spatial analysis, ecological modeling, integration of scientific, legal and political information, and computer tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to develop habitat conservation plans for threatened and endangered species as listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.Students will learn about the natural history of specific mammals and birds of the Pacific Northwest and other regions. Habitat analysis will be conducted at the landscape scale, integrating the disciplines of landscape ecology with wildlife habitat analysis, wildlife biology, and habitat conservation planning. A final two-quarter project will be to develop and present a formal habitat conservation plan (HCP) for a threatened or endangered Pacific Northwest mammal or bird. Students will be required to understand and apply legal concepts associated with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (as amended) as well as develop an understanding of stakeholders’ concerns and related issues surrounding resource users that may or may not come into conflict with the conservation of their selected species.Lectures will cover the areas of landscape ecology, wildlife habitat analysis, wildlife biology, evolution, and habitat conservation planning. Guest speakers will present recent case studies and approaches to conservation planning. Field trips to locations where wildlife management and conservation are occurring will expose students to methods of habitat assessment, conservation and restoration. | Peter Impara | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Abir Biswas, Michelle Aguilar-Wells and Jeff Antonelis-Lapp
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen - Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | Through studies of Olympic National Park and the Salish Sea (formerly known as the Puget Sound) lowlands, this program will consider connections among natural places, their respective natural histories and their people. What forces have shaped the geology, natural history and culture of the Olympics and Salish Sea areas? What are the connections between a place and the species that follow?This program will investigate the role that geology plays in influencing biota and cultures that take up residence in these geographically close but ecologically and culturally distinct locations. This approach will allow us to consider questions including: What do we know about the natural and human history in these regions and how might this predict the future? What are the interrelationships of people, place, flora and fauna in these regions?In fall quarter, we will focus on place, studying parts of the region that are geographically close but ecologically distinct as we consider the long-term geologic processes that have shaped and continue to influence the area, as well as the region’s flora and fauna, with an emphasis on bird life. Students will keep detailed natural history journals and engage in a quarter-long writing project on geologic processes and/or a species of interest.During winter quarter, we will narrow our focus to recent millennia (centuries) to consider the people of the region and shorter-term geologic processes important on human time scales including soil formation, nutrient cycling, climate change and human impacts. Students will continue to develop skills as natural historians, learning to effectively communicate with and teach others as we examine environmental education as a way to build an understanding of the connections between a place, its natural history and its people.Spring quarter will be dedicated primarily to student-driven individual or small group 12-credit projects that build on program themes from previous quarters. For the remaining 4 credits of this full-time 16-credit program, class will meet one full day a week for seminar and workshops, engaging students in Coastal Salish art, the canoe culture and other features of western Washington indigenous cultures. Field trips during each quarter to Olympic National Park and locally around Salish Sea will provide multiple opportunities to consider differences in the geology and natural history of these areas.Field trips during each quarter to the Olympic Peninsula, Olympic National Park or locally around Salish Sea will provide multiple opportunities to consider differences in the geology, natural history and human cultures of these areas. | Abir Biswas Michelle Aguilar-Wells Jeff Antonelis-Lapp | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | |||
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Trevor Speller and Abir Biswas
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen - Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | S 14Spring | This program is dedicated to understanding the back and forth between the physical environment and the written word. How do texts shape what we are able to see in the physical environment? How does one's understanding of the physical environment shape ways of writing and understanding the world? How do we describe it? What do we read into it?In 1815, William Smith produced the first geological map of Great Britain. His investigations were a product of a new way of seeing his physical world. Rather than assuming the earth to be a stable object which remained unchanged since Noah’s flood, Smith drew on his observations, and began to see the earth as a dynamic physical entity. His discoveries came in a time when Enlightenment thinkers were questioning the order of the world, the role of religion and the value of science and industry. The modern science of geology can thus be said to have arisen from a new way of seeing: William Smith was able to read and write about the Earth not only through observations, but because of the set of cultural changes that changed his frame of mind. Importantly, Smith's observations came at a time when poets, novelists and political philosophers were beginning to actively investigate the influence of the natural world on humans and human behavior.We will consider the frames through which we read and write our physical world, through an introduction to foundational concepts in geology and literary study. We will consider how geologists investigate and describe the physical world, and examine concepts including geologic time, plate tectonics, earth materials and the evolution of life. We will consider how writers investigate and describe the natural world in the works of 18th- and 19th-century literature, as well as contemporary literature about the Pacific Northwest. We will read works of poetry, fiction, political philosophy and travel writing. Program texts may include works by John McPhee, Simon Winchester, William Wordsworth, Daniel Defoe and others.Students should expect to participate in lecture, lab and seminar, write critical papers and take examinations. There will also be field trips to locations of geological interest as well as cultural venues. | Trevor Speller Abir Biswas | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Spring | |||||
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Lucia Harrison
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | This is an art-based program that combines the study of stream ecology and visual art to provide a framework and tools to examine, observe, record, and know a place. We will explore the role of art and science in helping people develop a deep and reciprocal relationship with a watershed. Designed for beginning students in art and ecology, we will study the characteristics of local streams and make drawings that are inspired by a connection to a specific stream. The Nisqually River Watershed will be the focus for our collective work while the numerous local streams will serve as individual focal points for student projects throughout the quarter.Through reading, lectures and field study, students will learn the history of the watershed, study concepts in stream ecology, learn to identify native plants in the watershed and learn about current conservation efforts. They will develop beginning drawing skills and practice techniques for keeping an illustrated field journal. Students will work in charcoal, chalk pastel, watercolor, and colored pencil. Students will explore strategies for using notes and sketches to inspire more finished artworks. Students will study artists whose work is inspired by their deep connection to a place. Each student will visit a local stream regularly, keep a field journal, and in the second half of the quarter, students will create a series of artworks or an environmental education project that gives something back to their watershed. | Lucia Harrison | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||||
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Alison Styring
Signature Required:
Fall
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SOS | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | Students will work to become specialists on one or more taxonomic groups that occur in the Pacific Northwest. Through field study and literature research, students will develop identification guides and species accounts to post on the Evergreen Natural History websites. Students may conduct specimen-based research using The Evergreen State College Natural History Collections, and projects may also involve a field component. Skills will be developed in taxonomy and systematics, bioinformatics, museum practices, digital imagery for scientific illustration, field ecology and natural history writing. | Alison Styring | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall |