General Information

This course examines the physiological mechanisms that animals and other organisms use to cope with both “typical” and more extreme environmental challenges.  During the first two-thirds of the course, we will concentrate on the adaptations of animals to the environments they typically inhabit, leaving the last third or so for discussion of other topics, as time allows. These topics will likely include the survival mechanisms of organisms found in truly hostile conditions, and the physiological responses to and consequences of humans traveling outside their native environment.

Lectures and Text

The lectures in this course are intended to provide a general background in some basic areas of environmental physiology.  The assigned readings in Willmer et al. revisit the topics of the lectures and also provide additional breadth and depth of coverage; you will not be tested directly on the text, but reading it may prove useful for a number of reasons.  Reading material for which you will be responsible includes a number of journal articles to be assigned throughout the semester, which I will either distribute in class or make available online.  We will be discussing these papers in class.  All readings will be announced as we cover each topic, both in class and on the web site.

Exams

There will be two midterms during the semester as well as a final exam. The midterms will be take-home, open-book exams that will cover concepts discussed in class but that may also require some additional research.  The final exam is slated to have an in-class, closed-note format. The only material for which you will be responsible on that exam is that covered during lectures or as part of class discussions, unless I specifically indicate otherwise.  In addition to the exams, there will be a number of short quizzes on the journal articles we read for class.

You will be excused from an in-class exam only when an absence is truly unavoidable: e.g., in cases of serious illness, a death or serious illness in the family, out-of-town athletic events, etc.  If you know you will miss an exam beforehand, please let me know as early as possible so we can discuss our options.

Certified Writing

Bio 549 is a certified writing course. The writing we do will be in the style of “secondary scientific literature” – work that synthesizes or critiques the primary literature, which is work that first reports the results of research work. Each student will initially write two papers of about four to six pages on an assigned topic; these papers will be critiqued and then resubmitted.  The final assignment will be a longer paper of ten to twelve pages reviewing a specific area of environmental physiology chosen by the student.  In addition to the written work, students will give a short presentation to the class on their research topic.  We will discuss these assignments in more detail in the first few weeks of class.

Literature Discussions

As noted above, we will read a number of research and review articles during the semester and use some class time to discuss these papers. For each article, two or three students will be assigned to lead the discussion, but all students are expected to participate in these discussions.  We will discuss this process further in class.

Grading

A total of 500 points will be divided as follows:

My plan is to assign grades on a straight scale:

Scores may be curved, but this is not likely and would only occur once final totals for the semester have been calculated.

Office Hours

I will generally be available MF 1:00 – 2:00 and TTh 10:00 - 11:00.  If these hours are not convenient, you are always welcome to arrange another time to meet with me, or to drop in whenever my door is open. Please be aware, however, that I generally will not be able to spare much time during the hour immediately before I lecture.

Academic Honesty

I assume you are all familiar with the Creighton’s policy on academic honesty. If not, please consult pages 25-26 of the current Creighton University Student Handbook (http://www2.creighton.edu/fileadmin/user/StudentServices/CenterforStudentIntergrity/docs/2006-07Student_Handbook.pdf). The concept of academic honesty should be quite clear with regard to exams and term papers based entirely on a student’s own ideas.  In writing a review paper, however, students are sometimes confused as to what exactly constitutes plagiarism.  We will discuss this issue in class, but be aware that the appropriate time to clear up any uncertainties about plagiarism is before you turn in your paper (including the first draft), not after.