Graduate Courses

2 credits – Spring Semester

Pollinators are critically important to global ecosystems. This course explores the diversity of pollinators, from relatively well-known honey bees to wild bee species and non-insect pollinators such as bats and hummingbirds. Participants implement a project that involves creating a pollinator garden or submitting a pollinator-focused research paper, lesson plan, or grant application.

3 credits – Fall Semester every year; a single section is sometimes offered in the Spring Semester

This course explores the theory and practice of conservation science, including discussion of threats to biodiversity as well as methods to collaboratively address social-ecological problems. Vital to this course is a project in which students work directly with their local community to better understand and address real ecological problems.

3 credits – Spring Semester only

This course explores the beneficial and negative impacts of technology for conservation biology and environmental action. Topics include wildlife mapping via GPS and GIS, use of drones, satellite imagery, radio-collars, citizen/community science, social media, impacts of media on children, including Nature Deficit Disorder. Through projects, students research a biological problem of interest and design a participatory media product to engage community members in that topic.

3 credits – Fall Semester every year; a single section is sometimes offered in the Spring Semester

An understanding of evolution is critical for those seeking to better protect life on earth. In this course, students learn and discuss foundational evolutionary concepts as well as emerging topics. Students design a project that presents information on an evolutionary topic of choice in the form of a lesson plan, infographic, or review paper.

3 credits – Spring Semester only 

This course focuses on developing leadership through community engagement and science communication by writing for many purposes, including peer-reviewed literature, grants, and general community outreach. Students provide critical peer review of others’ work and are challenged to explore a leadership dimension within their professional careers.

2 credits – Fall and Spring Semesters 

The cornerstone exit course for students earning a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Biology. Students reflect on the projects and artifacts they have created throughout their master’s experience and how those projects have helped lead them to a deeper understanding of the master’s program core tenets of local, regional, and global understanding; inquiry; environmental stewardship; and community participation/voice.

2 credits – Fall and Spring Semesters 

A required exit course for students earning a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) in the Biological Sciences. Students review, analyze, and synthesize their own work throughout the degree and create a master’s portfolio. They share their portfolio with peers and discuss their academic and personal progress through their master’s experience. Student portfolios must demonstrate relevance to learning and teaching in formal education settings in addition to the master’s program core tenets.

For summarized information on the topics, themes, and assignments in these courses, please also view the Overview and Details of Foundational Web-based Coursework.

5 credits – Summer Semester every year

This course explores the applied theories and professional skills required to develop meaningful conservation action. Students collaborate to identify needs, design, and implement conservation campaigns.

3 credits – Summer Semester every year

Covers general biology topics via an inquiry-based and student-driven framework. This course also meets the biology requirement for Project Dragonfly master’s programs.

3 credits

Conserving wildlife is a complex endeavor that requires the integration of sound science from both the social and natural sciences. This course explores how social sciences can inform conservation. Students consider how current conservation issues can be addressed through an understanding of human thought and action.

3 credits

A bioclimatic zone, or biome, is a region broadly defined by the relationship between and among an area’s temperature patterns, annual precipitation, and living organisms. This course will introduce the biomes of the world through explorations of the characteristic vegetation and wildlife of biomes represented at this Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) site and current conservation issues relevant to each.

3 credits

In this course, participants study the science of climate change, the diverse causes of climate change, and the impact of climate change at local, regional, and global scales. Topics include global warming’s effect on weather and climate, ice caps, deforestation, and species conservation.

3 credits

This course engages students in exploring the scientific method and inquiry-based learning and teaching. Through devising investigations to answer questions and communicating results, participants experience the full process of inquiry and learn how to guide this process with their own students and in their own communities.

3 credits

Students in this course investigate environmental stewardship, research science, and conservation opportunities and solutions in their local communities, practice inquiry-based learning, develop a conservation project to be used in their classroom or community, and reflect on ecological and carbon footprints.

3 credits

Through both zoo-based and field-based experiences, this course explores regional wildlife conservation issues, as well as field investigation techniques that scientists and citizens can use to study and conserve local ecoregions and wildlife.

3 credits

Students in this course will explore the ways in which humans can (and do) emulate systems and designs found in nature to create materials, medicines, social systems, computers, and so much more. Students will fine tune their observation skills and complete a design challenge using nature as their guide.

3 credits

The focus of this course is the study of the biology of the Great Lakes watershed, combining classroom work with field science inquiry and research. In addition to exploring the general function of watersheds, students become familiar with historical and contemporary human influences on ecosystems within the watershed basin, and they discuss and understand negative human impacts including point and non-point source pollution, multiple-stressors, “urban stream syndrome,” and local sewage treatment and its relationship to the basin.

3 credits

This course provides a foundation for understanding ethological research methods that can be applied to promote animal welfare and wildlife conservation. The course involves a community-based research project and direct observation of diverse animal species in a variety of settings such as zoos, botanical gardens, parks, and more.

3 credits

This course addresses one of the most important scientific endeavors: evaluation to indicate whether their own work or the work of others is showing a trend and, thus, having an impact. The course is focused on two main sets of evaluation, natural science and social science studies. The course will review statistical thinking and discuss how to construct successful studies that will open students to accurate and effective evaluation.

3 credits

This course provides students with an overview of conservation research conducted in zoological, reserve, aquaria, and other ex situ settings. Students will explore key science concepts within the contexts of wildlife conservation, the imperative of in-situ conservation, the multidisciplinary nature of science, and hands-on conservation research.

3 credits

This course explores the biology and conservation of species and habitats. Students implement a research project and investigate how local environmental conditions shape species’ adaptations.

3 credits

This course investigates primate behavior, research methods, and conservation. Through direct observations of prosimians, monkeys, and apes in zoological settings, students gain a comprehensive view of topics ranging from social structure to communication.