NATR 1060 Ecology and Conservation of Living Resources

Fall Semester 2009

Time:  Monday and Wednesday 12:00 - 12:50 p.m., Friday 12:00 - 1:50 p.m.

Place: 2-6 Agriculture Building

Instructor:  Charles Nilon                                                                                                Teaching Assistant:  Dylan Allen     
                 303P ABNR                                                                                                                              8ABNR
                 phone: 882-3738                                                                                              phone: 884-8532
                 email: nilonc@missouri.edu                                                                                                            email: naw7a5@mizzou

Office Hours:  2-4 Monday and Wednesday or by appointment

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Natural Resources 60 is designed to introduce students to the concepts that are important in natural resources management and conservation.  The course is divided into three parts.  Part one identifies the key ecological concepts that are important to natural resource management.  Part two focuses on key concepts in the human dimensions of natural resource management and conservation.  The final portion of the course covers the application of ecological and human dimensions concepts to natural resource issues.  The course is also designed to introduce students to the ways that ecologist, social scientists, and natural resources managers do their work.  This will be done through a series of short assignments at the Sunoo Tract, Rockhill Park, and other local natural areas.

GRADING

Your grade will be based on your performance on the on the following items.

TEXTBOOK

Townsend, C.R., M. Begon, and J.L. Harper.  2008.  Essentials of ecology.  Third Edition.  Blackwell, Malden, MA.

Required readings that are not in the textbooks are listed in the schedule for the course.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

If you need accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please inform me immediately. Please see me privately after class, or at my office.  To request academic accommodations (for example, a notetaker), students must also register with the Office of Disability Services, S5 Memorial Union, 882-4696. It is the campus office responsible for reviewing documentation provided by students requesting academic accommodations, and for accommodations planning in cooperation with students and instructors, as needed and consistent with course requirements. For other MU resources for students with disabilities, click on "Disability Resources" on the MU homepage.

Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest, whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community regards academic dishonesty as an extremely serious, with serious consequences that range from probation to expulsion. When in doubt about plagiarism, quoting, or collaboration, consult with the course instructor.

The University community welcomes intellectual diversity and respects student rights. Students who have questions concerning the quality of instruction in this class may address concerns to either the Departmental Chair or Divisional leader or Director or the Director of the Office of Students Rights and Responsibilities (http://osrr.missouri.edu/). All students will have the opportunity to submit an anonymous evaluation of the instructor(s) at the end of the course.

It is helpful to be prepared for each lecture and to attend the lab.  Being prepared means reading assigned material prior to each lecture.  The schedule for the course  contains lecture and lab topics, assigned readings, dates of quizzes, and dates when assignments are due. Please note that I will not grade assignments that are turned in after 2 p.m. on the day they are due.  I will not allow you to make up quizzes that you miss.  There is no extra credit in this class.