BIOL * 4120 – Evolutionary Ecology W (3-1) [0.50]

An examination of common ecological circumstances faced by plants and animals and the morphological, behavioral and life history characteristics that have evolved in response. Particular emphasis will be placed on evolutionary processes and on adaptive aspects of thermoregulation, foraging strategies, spatial distribution, social and reproductive strategies. The course will emphasize both the theoretical basis and the empirical evidence for ecological adaptation. There is a 1-hour seminar each week for class discussion of selected lecture topics. Department of Integrative Biology.


Posted By : N.D.
Posted On : December 5, 2012

Is the textbook recommended by the student? No
Did the student enjoy the professor? Yes
Professor : A. McAdam

Comment :
This course is a good one to take if you would like to learn more about how research is conducted and how to critique a paper in depth. It also gives you a chance to come up with your own research topic and write a paper on how you would theoretically conduct it. This is good for experience if you are considering doing a masters in the future. The course also has seminars in which students critically discuss various evolutionary research papers, which can be stressful if you do not like to discuss your ideas openly in front of classmates (there is a mark assigned for participation). I would also recommend making sure you know a thing or two about statistics before taking this course. The professor does a very good job of explaining concepts and is very approachable, and the course content is interesting and thought provoking.
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Posted By : Anonymous
Posted On : March 22, 2012

Is the textbook recommended by the student? No
Did the student enjoy the professor? Yes
Professor : Andrew McAdam

Comment :
This course has no final exam. Instead, you have to write a huge research proposal in evolutionary ecology. Don't think this is an easy course! Be prepared to put lots of time into your proposal, as well as the weekly discussions. Marking is harsh, but forces you to think and be critical. Good prep course for graduate studies (lots of paper discussions, paper critiques, everything to do with the literature). Overall I enjoyed the course and think it helped me improve my skills in literature research/critique, rather than "just another bio course" that results in memorization of huge amounts of information, only to forget it all after the final exam. It helped get rid of my fear of research, so is recommended for students who "don't think they could pick a topic and research it".
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