Biogeography!
(GEOG 438 / 538)
Course Overview
Biogeography is the study of the spatio-temporal distribution of biota.
Biogeographers conduct research on how physical and biological factors and processes influence distributions of plants and animals and study how geographic distributions affect the evolution and extinction of species. We try to apply this knowledge to the protection of rare and endangered species, the impact of invasive species, and the conservation of threatened or changing ecosystems. This course is designed to explore how biogeographic processes influence the evolution of species, communities, and ecosystems and provides background and analytical techniques for studying the effects of global change on biology.
With this course, I aim to combine evolutionary and ecological perspectives in the field of biogeography and show how Earth history, contemporary environments, and evolutionary and ecological processes have shaped species distributions and nearly all patterns of biodiversity. General patterns in space and time from a diversity of plants and animals across the Earth’s aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems will be used to illustrate this broad field of biogeography.
The goals of the course are to:
(a) examine the breadth of the field of biogeography and environmental studies,
(b) examine how geographically-linked processes influence evolution and extinction of biota in time and across spatial gradients,
(c) provide an overview of the analytical techniques and applications for studying the interplay between geographic ranges, environment, evolution, and extinction,
(d) link biogeographical principles developed from wildland settings to study challenges in built environments.
Biogeography is the study of the spatio-temporal distribution of biota.
Biogeographers conduct research on how physical and biological factors and processes influence distributions of plants and animals and study how geographic distributions affect the evolution and extinction of species. We try to apply this knowledge to the protection of rare and endangered species, the impact of invasive species, and the conservation of threatened or changing ecosystems. This course is designed to explore how biogeographic processes influence the evolution of species, communities, and ecosystems and provides background and analytical techniques for studying the effects of global change on biology.
With this course, I aim to combine evolutionary and ecological perspectives in the field of biogeography and show how Earth history, contemporary environments, and evolutionary and ecological processes have shaped species distributions and nearly all patterns of biodiversity. General patterns in space and time from a diversity of plants and animals across the Earth’s aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems will be used to illustrate this broad field of biogeography.
The goals of the course are to:
(a) examine the breadth of the field of biogeography and environmental studies,
(b) examine how geographically-linked processes influence evolution and extinction of biota in time and across spatial gradients,
(c) provide an overview of the analytical techniques and applications for studying the interplay between geographic ranges, environment, evolution, and extinction,
(d) link biogeographical principles developed from wildland settings to study challenges in built environments.
Integrating Art into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Learning:
My strategy in this class to immerse principles in Physical Geography through lively debate and discussion, to enhance the critical thinking skills students need to make intelligent decisions about the world around them. Sometimes this happens through "art". I use the quotation marks because many of us feel like we separate that creativity from our "book knowledge", but I've found that challenging myself and my students to illustrate a concept or hypothesis forces on to critically examine our thinking and our hypotheses.
Evaluating theory, Critiquing science, Developing praxis:
Courses that include undergraduates and graduate students can be challenging given their different backgrounds and goals for a course. I try to work with the graduate students to delve even deeper into the theory that supports Biogeography and really connect with their individual programs of study. Throughout this last semester, Graduate students in this course and I have met to critique the similarities and distinctions between the development of Biogeography versus Critical Zone Science as interdisciplinary fields of study. The goal is to develop a manuscript for the Journal of Biogeography.
My strategy in this class to immerse principles in Physical Geography through lively debate and discussion, to enhance the critical thinking skills students need to make intelligent decisions about the world around them. Sometimes this happens through "art". I use the quotation marks because many of us feel like we separate that creativity from our "book knowledge", but I've found that challenging myself and my students to illustrate a concept or hypothesis forces on to critically examine our thinking and our hypotheses.
Evaluating theory, Critiquing science, Developing praxis:
Courses that include undergraduates and graduate students can be challenging given their different backgrounds and goals for a course. I try to work with the graduate students to delve even deeper into the theory that supports Biogeography and really connect with their individual programs of study. Throughout this last semester, Graduate students in this course and I have met to critique the similarities and distinctions between the development of Biogeography versus Critical Zone Science as interdisciplinary fields of study. The goal is to develop a manuscript for the Journal of Biogeography.