Environmental Studies 441 - Seminar in Conservation Biology

(Offered as BIOL 440 and ENST 441) Conservation biology is a highly interdisciplinary field, requiring careful consideration of biological, economic, and sociological issues. Solutions to biodiversity conservation and environmental challenges are even more complex. Yet, conservation is a topic of timely importance in order to safeguard biological diversity. Utilizing close reading and discussion of articles from the primary literature, the course will explore key topics including overexploitation (including connections between the wildlife trade and emergent diseases such as COVID-19), habitat fragmentation, climate change, restoration, protected areas, payments for ecosystem services, as well as how to determine appropriate conservation priorities. Three classroom hours per week.

Requisite: BIOL 201, BIOL 230/ENST 210, BIOL 312/ENST 310, or BIOL 320, or consent of the instructor. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 14 students. Spring semester. Senior Lecturer Levin.

How to handle overenrollment: Preference given to biology and environmental studies majors and by class year (seniors first, etc.).

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: readings, written work, oral presentations, group work, independent research