Through interactive content, discussions of real-world cases, and inquiry-based guided and independent field labs we will study the basic parts and processes of ecological systems – how organisms respond to their physical environment, interact with each other in populations and communities across the landscape, and affect the movement of energy and nutrients through terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This will include topics and questions relevant to global change, such as:

• Evolutionary Ecology: What is a species? What is the time scale of evolution? How is genetic variation important in conservation, restoration, agriculture, and public health?
• Physiological Ecology: How can organisms tolerate or respond to changes in climate, salinity, or acidity? How can indicator species inform community-science site assessments?
• Population Ecology: How can hunting-related changes in age distribution affect population growth? How can we estimate maximum sustainable yield to inform fisheries management?
• Community Ecology: How do species compete for limited resources? Why are some species invasive? How can restoration ecologists change the direction of a community over time?
• Landscape Ecology: What are organisms’ patterns of migration and movement? What are the consequences of connecting or fragmenting habitats in the landscape?
• Ecosystem Ecology: How can nutrient fluxes lead to fish kills? How can salmon feed forests? How will climate change affect crop productivity?