Course Description

Back to top

Global Change Ecology will provide an in-depth survey of climate change and its ecological impacts. We will examine the drivers and mechanisms of climate change and its impacts on the distribution and abundance of species and ecological communities. We will use a systems approach that places global change ecology in the context of the Earth system, emphasizing the interactions and feedbacks within and between the ecological, climate, and human systems.

Catamount Core Curriculum Designations

Back to top

This class counts towards the following Catamount Core Curriculum requirements for UVM undergraduates:

N1: Natural Science (No Lab). In natural sciences courses, students become familiar with scientific thought, observation, experimentation, and formal hypothesis testing. They develop the skills necessary to make informed judgments about scientific information and arguments related to the natural world. Students also gain the ability to assess the impacts of our expanding scientific knowledge and technology on the diversity of life on Earth, and the quality of life for our own species. All courses provide experiences with the methods of scientific inquiry used to develop new knowledge about the natural world.

SU: Sustainability. At the University of Vermont, we recognize that the pursuit of ecological, social, and economic vitality must come with the understanding that the needs of the present be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This course was given sustainability designation because, in addition to the course-level outcomes, the course meets the Sustainability General Education requirement, which includes the following four learning outcomes:

1. Students can have an informed conversation about the multiple dimensions and complexity of sustainability.
2. Students can evaluate sustainability using an evidence-based disciplinary approach and integrate economic, ecological, and social perspectives.
3. Students think critically about sustainability across a diversity of cultural values and across multiple scales of relevance from local to global.
4. Students, as members of society, can recognize and assess how sustainability impacts their lives and how their actions impact sustainability.

Course Requisites or Co-requisites

Back to top

BCOR 2100 Ecology and Evolution or NR 2030 Ecology, Ecosystems & Environment or an equivalent sophomore level course in Ecology and/or Evolution.

Course Goals

Back to top

Course objectives

1. The student will be able to describe the natural and human drivers of climate change.
2. The student will be able to describe the primary impacts of climate change on species and ecological communities.
3. The student will be able to discuss the ecological system as a component of the Earth system.
4. The student will apply a systems perspective to describing the relationships between the ecological, climate, and human components of the Earth system.

Class Structure. Students will achieve course objectives through readings, other media, and online discussions. The class will be divided up into modules, with the student completing each module before moving on to the next module. There are a total of 8 modules with the student completing 2 modules per week for each of the 4 weeks of the course.

1. Readings. Students will complete assigned readings from course texts and other assigned sources.

2. Media. Students will watch a variety of videos and other media that reinforce and supplement the assigned readings. These will include full length documentaries, shorter video presentations, and podcasts. The online discussions and learning assessments will integrate material from all media.

3. Online discussions. Students will participate in online discussions that examine and analyze the concepts presented in the readings and assigned media for each course module.

4. Learning Assessments. Quizzes will assess student understanding of assigned readings and videos for each course module, while a cumulative final exam will assess student understanding of content across modules.

Grading

Back to top

Grading scale:

For graduate students, grades below 70 are considered failing.

Readings

Back to top

Students will also be assigned readings from the following set of books (below). These books will be required for this class and are available as ebooks from the publisher or other online sources (e.g., Amazon, etc.) or in the university bookstore.

1. Thomas E. Lovejoy (Editor) & Lee Hannah (Editor). 2019. Biodiversity and Climate Change: Transforming the Biosphere. Link to book.
2. Emanuel, K., 2018. What we know about climate change. MIT Press. ISBN: 9780262535915. Link to book.

Media

Back to top

We will watch a variety of documentaries, video lectures, and podcasts. While you may be able to find a free source of these media, for example in the university library or online, you may have to rent, purchase, or find them through a subscription service (e.g., Amazon Prime, Netflix, Apple TV, etc.). These media include the following:

1. An Inconvenient Truth (97 mins)
2. A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (83 mins)
3. Seaspiriacy (89 mins)
4. Planet of the Humans (100 mins)

GETTING STARTED

Back to top

1. Watch this introductory video on the class to learn about this course and class activities.
2. Review the course objectives and course texts above.
3. Log onto the Brightspace page for undergraduates (here for graduate students) and click on the Yellowdig link on under 'Contents & Activities' to get to the Yellowdig discussion tool and then make a post introducing yourself. Here is a video on using Yellowdig in this class and another short video (3 mins) from the creators of Yellowdig.
4. Go to the course schedule using the following link: Class Schedule.
5. Start Module 1 by watching the introductory video, then complete the assigned tasks for that module, moving from left to right, ending with a quiz, which is accessed through BrightSpace (see instructions for accessing quizzes here).
6. Complete 2 modules per week. After completing module 8 at the end of week 4, take the final exam (accessed through BrightSpace).

Policies

• Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
• Student Learning Accomodations
• Academic Integrity
• Religious Holidays