Calling all students who are concerned about the fate of our planet!
Want to learn about how changes in climate are likely to impact ecosystems? Or how ecosystems can actually slow or speed up rates of climate change? Or how human activities that cause the loss of species also affect how ecosystems function? Or maybe you just want to know how to talk to your family at holiday gatherings about how climate change is affecting Indiana ecosystems. Fortunately, there is a course that can help you learn more: BIO-L402 “Ecosystems and Global Change”.
This 3 credit-hour class will be taught next semester (spring of 2020), and is the perfect follow-up class to students who have taken L473, L474, L376, L371 or E332, and who have a general interest in ecology and the environment. In this course, we’ll investigate how ecosystems function, from tropical forests to peat bogs to deserts, all with the goal of discovering how and why ecosystems differ in their sensitivity to stress, disturbance and global environmental changes. Two recently-released reports – the National Climate Assessment and Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment – indicate that our climate is changing rapidly and we should all be concerned about the potential impacts. If you want to learn more about these impacts, this is the course for you.
BIO-L402 will be relatively small, which means that students have an opportunity to work closely with the instructor and conduct their own independent research project. If you’re interested in the class, but are not sure if you have the background or prerequisites needed to take it, please email the course instructor Rich Phillips asap at rpp6@indiana.edu.
Note, this course is also cross-listed as Z620, which is suitable for MS students with the appropriate background.