BSC3052 Syllabus

Course hours
Time: Monday and Wednesday 03:35 PM - 04:50 PM
Location: HCB 0216

Goals of this course:

• Learn about Conservation Biology and related fields, such as Evolution and Ecology necessary to understand concepts and concerns.
  In particular explore themes such as biodiversity, extinction, ecosystem management, restoration, environmental policies.
• Learn to extract information from the primary literature
• Learn to critique and present and summarize information

Course material:  The main resources will be the following:

• http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~beerli/BSC3052/ . Parts of the website are password protected (it is on your first-day syllabus, or ask instructor). This website is the main instrument for this course and will contain an up-to-date syllabus, assignments, due dates, and other material. Slides for the course will be available typically after the lecture, the website may contain older slides that may change after the lecture is given. Not all topics will be covered with slides, about half the course will be taught using the white board, the slides are typically used for figures and examples. I expect that you take notes in class, slides are not a replacement for your notes.
• The book Principles of Conservation Biology (third edition) by Martha J. Groom, Gary K. Meffe, C. Ronald Carroll, and Contributors.
• Articles from the primary conservation biology literature, some will be available from the website as links to PDF files on JSTOR etc, others you will need to copy in the library.
  If you have difficulties printing these let me know when I assign the article and you can get a paper copy the next day.

Office hours: are Monday 1:30 – 2:30 in my office or schedule an appointment by email to beerli@fsu.edu. My office is in the Dirac Science Library, first floor, room 150-T. The entrance to the first floor in Dirac is near the parking garage,enter the building and then turn to the left. Caroline's Office hours are on Tuesday 11-12 in KIN 4079.

Tests: There will be a mid-term and a final exam.

Homework consists of reading the appropriate chapters in the book “Principles of Conservation Biology” by Groom et al. (as preparation for class), and written assignments: 

• The homework are 2 pairs of Review of an original paper (ROP), and the review of that review (RR) and 2 reviews of original papers. The ROP is from the primary conservation biology literature (minimally 2 pages double-spaced, 11 point font, no more than 1 inch border on all sides). The RR is grading and discussing the shortcomings/great ideas of the ROP. Caroline and I will then finally grade the ROP and the RR. How does this work in practice? Each of you write an ROP, turn it in by email to me, I then redistribute the ROPs randomly back to you and then you will write a critque (the RR) of the ROP and turn that in by email to me. Caroline and I will then grade your ROP and your RR (I will write a full instruction sheet on this procedure). We will have 4 assignments
• Essay on a topic connected to Conservation Biology (for example on the management of a specific endangered species [Florida panther, Grizzly bears], a local environmental threatend area [Everglades,...], a more general topic [Influence of ESA politics on Polar bears]) with a bibliography with at least 5 papers from the primary scientific literature (no webpage citations! [the citations MUST come from peer-reviewed journals]). I expect that the essay has at least 5 pages (double-spaced, 11 point font, no more than 1 inch border on all sides) and the citation list is not included in the limit of 5 pages. More details about the essay are discussed in class.

Late policy: If assignments are late and unexcused I deduct for every day late 10% of the points. I need written excuses for failing to come to tests, and late essays. I expect that you come to class, but no excuse is needed for occasional doctor's appointments etc.

Grading: The grades are on the A-F scale. The grades will be assembled using the MID-TERM (100 points), the FINAL EXAM (100 points), the discussion assignments (4 ROP, 2 RR, each 50 points), and the essay (100 points). A total of 600 points will be distributed into the A-F grade scale. I will use the participation record during class for rounding. I will take the liberty to adjust the grade scale downward, so that fewer points are needed to get a passing grade, and (2) give plus and minus grades; in particular plus if the record shows that a grade increase is not warranted but a recognition of being in the upper range of the specific grade is just.

Academic Honor Code: Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook, The first paragraph says: The Academic Honor System of Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work.

Students with disabilities: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should: (1) Register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center [SDRC] ) in room 108 in the Student Services Building (644-9566). (2) Bring me a letter from the SDRC indicating you need academic accommodations. This should be done within the first week of classes. For more information on this see the Resource Center's web site (http://www.fsu.edu/%7Estaffair/dean/StudentDisability/index.html).

Preliminary Schedule

 This syllabus, except the grading policy, can change with advance notice.

 [updated PB January, 2008]