Welcome to the Biol 510 webpage for Fall 2011
This ecology course will examine the underlying causes of global change issues at levels ranging from biogeochemical processes through to human behaviour. The aim of the course is to develop students' perspectives on the relationship between ecology and the sustainability of our current civilisation. Students will lead informal seminar discussions on some component of this theme that is of particular interest to them. Initial sessions will provide an overview of the history of human impacts on the structure and functioning of the Earth's ecosystems. Subsequently, we will consider the role of ecological understanding in influencing and predicting the future of our civilisation. This course is for final year undergraduates and is specifically aimed at enhancing their capacities for critical thinking, group discussion, and independent learning. By the end of the course, students should be able to apply fundamental ecological perspectives toward understanding the Earth’s ecosystems and how they are being affected by human activities.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of this course, the student should be able to:
- Describe the history of human influences on Earth’s ecosystems
- Explain the biogeochemical context and processes that underly several global change issues
- Search and critically assess primary and secondary scientific literature
- Develop, present and write cohesive original syntheses on a chosen global change issue
- Challenge current perspectives on global change issues
- Discuss and debate the role of ecology in predicting our future
Professor: Paul Grogan
Seminar times: Mondays 1.00; Wednesdays 11.30
Location: Room 3112, Biosciences building
Calendar: Sessions are 1.5 hours
Assessment:
15% Active participation in discussions (questions, comments, suggestions)
10% Seminar written questions
35% Seminar presentation (on book chapter, or a paper from reference list or one selected by the student if agreed with me)
40% Debate paper
| Week beginning | Day and time | Convenor | Topic | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12th September | Monday 1.00 |
Paul Grogan
|
Introduction | |
| 14th | Wednesday 11.30 |
Paul Grogan
|
Paul's 2011 Biology Banquet address | |
| 19th September | Monday 1.00 | Field trip - Wolfe Island wind energy project | ||
| 21st | Wednesday 11.30 | David Chubb | How have our perceptions of anthropenic effects on the Earth's ecosystems changed over the past 20 years? | Beyond Global Warming: Ecology and Global Change, Vitousek, 1994; Human domination of the Earth's ecosystems, Vitousek et al, 1997 |
| 26th September | Monday 1.00 | Carley Davidson | What can we learn from our evolutionary past that will help us understand our current state, and chart a sustainable future? | Short History of Progress - Chapter 1, Wright, 2007 |
| 28th | Wednesday 11.30 | Brittany Shelly | How has human behaviour shaped civilization and what social constructs are necessary for human civilization to function sustainably? | Short History of Progress - Chapter 2, Wright, 2007 |
| 3rd October | Monday 1.00 | Brittany McGovern | How can evolution, a theory based on survival and adaptation, be reconciled with the self-destructive habits of the human species? | Short History of Progress - Chapter 3, Wright, 2007 |
| 5th | Wednesday 11.30 | Evette Yassa | Have our efforts to develop stable social systems using lessons from history been paralleled by efforts toward environmental sustainability? If not, then why? | Short History of Progress - Chapter 4, Wright, 2007 |
| 10th October | Monday 1.00 | Thanksgiving - No class | ||
| 12th | Wednesday 11.30 | Jennifer Hutchinson | What economic and political changes are needed to make our current civilisation more conducive to long-term thinking? | Short History of Progress - Chapter 5, Wright, 2007 |
| 17th October | Monday 1.00 | Baye Drury |
What incentives can our civilization develop to achieve protection of ‘the commons’? |
The Tragedy of the Commons - Hardin, 1968 |
| 19th | Wednesday 11.30 | Erin Murphy-Mills | Having gone beyond carrying capacity, in what ways can civilization be a part of the solution and not the problem? | Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy. - Wackernagel et al, 2002 |
| 24th October | Monday 1.00 | Hailie Auld | How can the inhabitants of a city be moved from interest to action towards sustainability? | Designing cities for people - Chapter 6 in the book Plan 4.0B, Brown, 2009. |
| 26th | Wednesday 11.30 | Cathleen Brennan | In what ways does cultural evolution shape the development of ethics? | Human natures, nature conservation, and environmental ethics. Ehrlich, 2002. |
| 31st October | Monday 1.00 | Salma Hassouna | Considering all aspects of globalization, can it be tailored for a sustainable and fair future to the whole world or is it a concept which is inherently destructive in nature? | Globalisation and Sustainability: Conflict or Convergence? Rees, 2002. |
| 2nd | Wednesday 11.30 | Julianne Kwan | Are current human population control strategies effective in dealing with the issue of overpopulation? Knowing this, where can we go from here? | Can China afford to continue with its one-child policy? Feng, 2005 |
| 7th November | Monday 1.00 | Jerome Velasco |
Could Wright be wrong? Can we move beyond competition to cooperation? |
Green jobs in the city. Chapter 8 in the book More Good News by Suzuki and Dressel, 2010. |
| 9th | Wednesday 11.30 | Khrystyna Ioanidis |
The ethical implications of food technology: should we or should we not feed the world?
|
Constraints on the Expansion of the Global Food Supply. Kendell and Pimentel, 1994 |
| 14th November | Monday 1.00 | David Suzuki's documentary Force of Nature - Part 1 | ||
| 16th | Wednesday 11.30 | David Suzuki's documentary Force of Nature - Part 2 | ||
| 21st November | Monday 1.00 | Debate: The Queen's sustainability initiatives are something we should be proud of |
For: Hailie Auld; Salma Hassouna Against: Evette Yassa; Julianne Kwan |
|
| 23rd | Wednesday 11.30 | Debate: Economic recessions are good for the environment |
For: Brittany McGovern; Carley Davidson Against: David Chubb; Khrystyna Ioanidis |
|
| 28th November | Monday 1.00 | Debate: The Alberta oil sands development is a necessary ecological evi |
For: Cathleen Brennan; Brittany Shelly; Jennifer Hutchinson Against: Baye Drury; Erin Murphy-Mills; Jerome Velasco |
|
| 30th | Wednesday 11.30 |
Paul Grogan
|
Summary discussion |
Last Updated: 28 Nov. 2011