Courses at Macalester College

Ecology & the Environment
Fundamental concepts of Ecology are taught with an emphasis on four lenses: Environmental Justice, Climate Change, Ecosystem Services, and Land Use Change. Students learn through lab and field activities, group case study investigations on globally diverse systems, real data interpretation, and guided reading of primary literature. The design of this course prioritized inclusion, community-building in a large class, and application in the 21st century.
Arctic Ecology 
An upper-level seminar that applies a 'systems science' approach to studying the Arctic - integrating climate science, paleoecology, anthropology, plant ecology, animal physiology, and soil science. Weekly discussions of primary literature, and emphasis on writing and science communication.​
Plant Ecophysiology ​
Upper-level lecture and lab course that examines plants' role and function in ecosystems. We scale from cell to globe, with topics including: photosynthesis, respiration, water transport, nutrient uptake, and growth. This course emphasizes measurements through weekly labs and data analysis, and reflects regularly on the intersection of climate change and environmental justice. 
Big Data in Ecology
Upper-level seminar on the organization, management, analysis, and visualization of real, messy environmental and ecological data in R/RStudio. Team-based active learning covering four modules: water quality in agricultural landscapes; climate change and human livelihoods; forest carbon cycling; and animal migration and conservation. Students write up short data-driven narratives alongside code and analysis, and complete semester with an independent project. 
Plants, Environment, & Society
All-majors course that introduces basics of plant biology, and covers topics including GM foods and science literacy, global agriculture, urban greenspace & environmental inequities in cities, and  biodiversity of our ecosystems and in our diets. 
Global Change Biology
​(co-taught with Prof. Christine O'Connell)

​Coming up in Fall 2020!

 Teaching materials - Please use!