Teaching

I teach two graduate courses and one undergraduate course.

Graduate courses

FW 730 – Ethics in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, 2-credits, every Fall semester

Professional ethics are about scientific integrity and responsible conduct of research, which requires that scientists be aware of the ethical dimensions of their work, desire to make the right decisions, and know how to address issues that arise. By actively participating in this course, students should become able to: (1) see and articulate ethical issues, (2) understand consequences of unethical practices, (3) be better able to solve ethical dilemmas in research and natural resource management, (4) confront the possibility of needing to act against their own self interest in order to avoid or solve a moral problem, and (5) develop leadership skills in the area of ethical conduct of research.

FW 595 – Citizen Science, 3-credits, every Fall semester

Students will learn the fundamentals of citizen science, the many ways that scientists collaborate with members of the public to carry out research. We will examine theory, practice, and design related to citizen science through coursework that builds incrementally into a semester-long collaborative research project. By actively participating in this class, students should: (1) develop competencies to design and implement citizen science projects, (2) gain professional development as public scientists, and (3) find, review, and synthesize literature as contributions to an article opening a fundamental question in the field.

Undergraduate course

FW 221 – Conservation of Natural Resources, 3-credits (I teach in spring semesters of odd-numbered years, but it is offered every semester by other great instructors)

In this course, students examine the importance of natural resources, their role in meeting the needs of societies, and the physical, biological, ecological, and social principles that underlie the sustainability of natural resource use. The course emphasizes renewable natural resources, the importance of habitat, and a broadly international context. The course takes an optimistic perspective that life on earth can and will be better in the future if we learn and practice good resource management today.