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Special Topics
Masters Home
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Below is a syllabus from a recent Special
Topics course that illustrates the nature of Special Topics courses.
Ecotoxicology - BIOL4000/5000
The
Foundations of Modern Ecology- BIOL 6000-A01
Ecotoxicology - BIOL4000/5000
Instructor Information
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Instructor |
Dr. Inna Sokolova |
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Email |
isokolov@uncc.edu |
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Office location |
STECH 381c |
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Office hours |
By appointment |
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Phone |
(704) 687 8532 |
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Biography |
1991 M.S. St.Petersburg State University, St.
Petersburg, Russia, 1997 Ph.D. Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of
Sciences, 1999-2001 Post-doctoral, Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and
Marine Research, Germany, 2001-2002 Post-doctoral, University of Guelph,
Canada, 2002- Assistant Professor, UNC Charlotte |
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Research interests |
Ecological physiology and toxicology of marine
invertebrates |
Course Goals
The goal of this course is
to make you acquainted with current problems in ecotoxicology, with
mechanisms and effects of different types of environmental pollutants and
the methods for toxicity testing. Because my main interest is ecological
physiology, I put a large emphasis on the analysis of physiological and
molecular mechanisms of toxicity of different pollutants. We will use case
studies of the most “celebrated” pollutants to analyze the effects of
environmental chemicals at molecular, cellular, whole-organism and
population levels of different organisms including (but not restricted to)
humans.
We will also discuss local and global effects of pollution and
related eco-ethical issues. This course is designed as an introduction into
the broad and rapidly developing field of ecological toxicology and will
help you to better appreciate some of the mechanisms and consequences of
human impact on the environment. For more details see "Course outline".
Course Information
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Course title |
Ecotoxicology |
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Course number |
BIOL4000/5000 |
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Course date |
January 9 through May 3,
2006 |
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Location |
TBA |
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Meeting day(s) |
TR |
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Meeting time(s) |
8:00-9:30 am |
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Prerequisite(s) |
Required:BIOL 3144
(Ecology)
BIOL 2111 (Cell Biology) |
Policies
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Course schedule:
Check calendar often for changes in lecture
topics and upcoming assignments. Please note that the dates of exams and
presentation WILL NOT change unless by consent of ALL students in the class.
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In class regulations:
Attendance of this class and participation in
discussions is mandatory. You are expected to actively participate in all
discussions and voice your opinions in front of the group of peers, and to
respectfully discuss other opinions. Twenty five per cent of your grade will
depend on presentations and participation in discussions; if you feel
uncomfortable with this you should not take this course.
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Walking in and out of class during lecture
distracts most students in the class. Please come to the class in time and
do not walk out during the lecture, except for an emergency such as
diarrhea. Cell phones should be turned off during the class. If I find your
behavior distractive for other students, I will ask you to leave the class
and take points from your final grade (up to 10%).
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Policy on tests and missed deadlines:
No curve is given in this course, and there is no
extra credit work except for a few small bonuses adding up to no more than
5% of the total grade. Should you have a legitimate excuse for missing an
exam (hospitalization, court appearances, a death in the family, etc.), you
let me know by providing a written proof in support of the absence. I will
then arrange a time for you to re-take the exam.
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Academic misconduct:
Your integrity is a starting
assumption of mine. You are responsible for understanding the Policy on
Academic Integrity at UNCC. Please consult the University policy documents
at http://www.uncc.edu/unccatty/policystate/ps-105.html .
Anyone caught copying on exams will
receive an "F" for a semester grade in the course.
Contact policies:
If you have any questions or issues to discuss,
you are welcome to contact me. For your maximum benefit please arrange your
appointment in advance by e-mail. You can also call me, but DO NOT
leave voice mail if I am not in my office. I will NOT return your calls. If
I am not answering the phone, write an e-mail explaining your issue
or asking for an appointment. I will be using e-mail to distribute
important information, including answers to FAQs. For maximum advantage,
check your UNCC 49er email account and the course Web page often.
Grading
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Presentation: 20% (200 points).
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A 20 min Power Point presentation based on a
selected original article on ecotoxicology followed by 10 min discussion.
The suggested articles and the general outline for the presentation will be
distributed in the class. I also encourage you to seek out relevant articles
that are not included in the suggested list, but remember – extra topics may
ONLY be included if approved by me at least 2 weeks before the
presentation.
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Tests: 45% (3 tests, 15% or 150 points each).
Format of tests: essay and short answers.
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Final test: 15% (150 points). A 5-6 page essay on
a selected topic. List of suggested topics will be distributed in the class.
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Take-home assignments: 15% (150 points)
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Participation and in class-discussions: 5% (50
points)
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This is an important part of this course.
Throughout the course I will assign original papers in ecotoxicology, which
you will read at home, and which we will then discuss in the class.
Suggested questions for the discussion will be distributed together with the
assigned reading. EVERYBODY is expected to actively participate in EVERY
in-class discussion, so come prepared and be ready to answer questions from
the instructor and your peers, to ask questions, and to voice your opinions.
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Total 100%=1000 points
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Grading scheme: 60/70/80/90
Textbooks: There are no required textbooks for this course.
Recommended reading include:
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Landis W.G., Yu M.G. (2004) Introduction to
environmnetal toxicology. Lewis Publishers, A CRC Press company.
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Walker, Hopkin, Sibly & Peakall (1997) Principles
of ecotoxicology. Taylor & Francis, London.
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Newman (2001) Fundamentals of ecotoxicology.
Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton etc.
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Additional assigned reading will be announced and
distributed in class.
The Foundations of Modern
Ecology- BIOL 6000-A01
This seminar course will rely primarily
on “Foundations of Ecology: Classic papers with commentaries,” edited by L. A.
Real and J. H. Brown.
There are 40
papers covered in the book, somedating as far back as 1887. Most, however were
published from the early 1900s through 1960. We will pick topics of interest,
review the papers and commentaries in the text. Students will be assigned papers
and lead a discussion of the contents and significance of the paper.
Broad topics
to be covered will include:
Grinnell and Hutchinson on the
niche; Gleason and Clements on plant
associations and climax communities; Hairston, et al., Ehrlich and
Raven, Harper and Schoener on population control, coevolution, and feeding
strategies; Leslie, Birch, and Odum on
population models and ecosystem development; And Kettlewell, Connell, and
Paine on experimental manipulations in lab and field.
The course
will be 2-hr credit and meet once a week at a mutually convenient time. Students
will be evaluated on the basis of their class presentations and a review paper
which, unlike the usual “how did we get to the current state of knowledge”
approach, will take one of the classic papers and follow that line of research
going forward. What happened after the seminal paper in question? Were the
authors right? How have the original questions changed over time?
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