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Vince Eckhart's Courses (PioneerWeb [campus-only course info])

Most recent Tutorial - Got Limits? In this tutorial we will explore the concepts of limits and limitlessness, especially in—but not limited to—scientific contexts. Readings, other media, discussions, field trips, and assignments will address ideas, evidence, and arguments about the nature of beginnings (e.g., the Big Bang), ends (e.g., extinction), and boundaries (e.g., intelligence, lifespan, environmental sustainability, and space colonization). Does this topic sound too open-ended? Last taught fall, 2012.

Biology 150 -- Introduction to Biological Inquiry: The Sex Life of Plants. Few things in nature are as evident as the diversity of flowering plants. In this course, students will investigate the causes of that diversity by addressing contemporary research questions and studying classic ideas about the evolution and ecology of plant reproductive systems. The course emphasis will be on studying adaptation, practicing the scientific method, designing observations and experiments, and communicating scientific information. Prerequisites: none. Last taught spring, 2012.

Biology 252 -- Organisms, Evolution, and Ecology. Investigations of the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of organismal structure and function, including studies of why organisms acquire and expend energy, acquire and transport materials, regulate internal conditions, transmit information, reproduce, develop, grow, and move. Student investigations will be linked with those of Biology 251 (Cells, Molecules, and Organisms). Prerequisites Biology 251 and Mathematics 124 or 131. Next taught spring, 2013.

Biology 305 -- Evolution of the Iowa Flora. Investigations of the vascular plants of Iowa from three perspectives: (1) taxonomy and systematics; (2) paleoecology and community assembly; and (3) conservation. Prerequisite Bio 252, or instructor permission. Next taught fall, 2013.

Biology 368 -- Ecology. Study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and of relationships between organisms and environments. Laboratories emphasize quantitative analysis and experimental design in ecology and include several field projects. Lectures focus on the development of ecological concepts and theory. Three lectures and one laboratory per week. Prerequsite Biology 252, or instructor permission. Next taught, fall, 2012.

Biology 395. Advanced Special Topic: Spatial Ecology. Because it concerns the distributions of organisms, ecology has always been an explicitly spatial biological discipline. Innovations in techniques (e.g., geostatistics, geographic information systems, remote sensing) and concepts (e.g,. metapopulation biology, landscape genetics) are now enabling ecologists to address old questions in new ways, as well as new questions altogether.This course asks students to apply to the concepts and tools of spatial ecology in addressing basic and applied ecological issues. Taught spring, 2004 and spring 2010. Some content has migrated to BIO 368.

Environmental Studies 120 -- Environmental Challenges and Responses. This course provides a forum for sustained discussions of environmental challenges and the responses they have engendered among small groups of students and faculty. Content varies each semester. All students will meet biweekly to hear an invited speaker present on a relevant topic. During intervening weeks students will meet in small groups with two faculty members to discuss the previous week’s seminar and related readings. Each discussion group will comprise students and faculty with diverse backgrounds. Next taught fall, 2013.