Animal Behavior

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

Instructor: Alan Shanks
My Office is in the Terwilliger Building and my door is always open.
ashanks@oimb.uoregon.edu

T.A.: Jessica Miller
Jessica’s office is also in the Terwilliger Building
jmiller@oimb.uoregon.edu

Class Schedule: Wednesday 8:30 AM to 5 PM (Note that we have two date changes listed in BOLD) and Friday 11:00 to 12:00 AM
Text Book: John Alcock – Animal Behavior

Approximate Class Schedule
(Note: this is very approximate as I have not taught this class before. This Schedule will probably change as we go along.)

WEEK 1
• 2 Oct. 8:30 AM: Lec. 1: Brief History of Animal Behavior, Review of Evolution, The Scientific Method, First Concepts in Animal Behavior. Readings: Chapters 1 and 2. Lab: Field trip to the intertidal zone.
• 4 Oct.: Organization of Discussion Section

WEEK 2
• 7 Oct. 8:30 (Note the Change in Date!!!! This is Monday not Wednesday). Lec. 2: Neurobiology of Behavior. Readings: Chapters 5 and 6. Lab: Orientation Behavior in beach hoppers.
• 11 Oct.: Readings: To be Announced.

WEEK 3
• 16 Oct. 8:30 AM: Lec. 3: Readings: Chapters 3 and 4. Lab: Escape behavior.
• 18 Oct.: Student Presentations

WEEK 4
• 24 Oct. 8:30 AM (Note the Change in Date!!!!). Lec. 4: Evolution of Behavior. Readings: Chapters 7, 8 and 9. Lab.: Phylogeny of Limpet Behavior.
• 25 Oct. Review for mid-term.

WEEK 5
• 30 Oct. 8:30 AM Mid-term. Lab. Discussion of lab projects and initiation of studies
• 1 Nov. Discussion: Readings to be Announced

WEEK 6
• 6 Nov. 8:30 AM: Lec.: Lecture topic and readings to be announced. Lab.: Class Projects.
• 8 Nov. Student Presentations

WEEK 7
• 13 Nov. 8:30 AM: Lecture topic and readings to be announced. Lab.: Class Projects
• 15 Nov. Progress reports on class projects and discussion.

WEEK 8
• 20 Nov. 8:30 AM Lec.: Lecture topic and readings to be announced. Lab.: Class Projects.
22 Nov. Discussion: Readings to be Announced or continuation of progress reports.

WEEK 9
• 27 Nov. 8:30 AM. Lec.: Lecture topic and readings to be announced. Lab.: Class Projects.
• 29 Nov. Student Presentations.

WEEK 10
• 4 Dec. 8:30 AM Lec.: Lecture topic and readings to be announced. Lab.: Oral presentation of class projects.
• 6 Dec. Review for final

WEEK 11
• 11 Dec. Cumulative Final Time to be announced. Reports on class projects due by 4 PM.

Determination of Grade
Your grade will be determined by the mid-term, final (NOTE THAT THE FINAL IS CUMULATIVE), the write up of your class research project, and two presentations with accompanying short paper. The portion of your grade due to each of these assignments is as follows:
Mid-term 2/Blizzard
Final exam 2/8
Class Research Project 2/8
First 15 min. Presentation plus short paper 1/8
Second 15 min. Presentation plus short paper 1/8
The class project will be written up as a scientific manuscript and will be submitted on the afternoon of the day on which the Final exam is taken (see above). You will also present the results of your project to the class as a short presentation. I will describe in detail what I expect and offer suggestions on writing a scientific paper.
On two of the Friday meetings you will give a short presentation (15 min plus questions) on a topic in animal behavior of your choice. Then you will write a short paper (2 to 3 pages double spaced) on this topic and this will be due within two weeks of when you gave your talk. There are three Fridays when you can give two talks. Again I will describe in more detail what I expect.

BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY 457/557

Instructor.: Alan Shanks
T.A.: Ali Helms
Class Schedule: Wed. 8:30 AM to 5 PM
Friday TBA
Text Books: Lalli, C.M. and Parsons, T.R. 1993. Biological Oceanography: An Introduction. Pergamon Press.
Open University Course Team. 1989. Ocean Circulation. Pergamon Press.

Approximate Class Schedule

WEEK 1
• 2 April 8:30 AM: Lec. Abiotic Environment, Introduction to the ecology of phytoplankton and marine microbes Lab. Introduction to zooplankton and phytoplankton. Short boat trip to sample plankton. Readings for weeks 1 and 2: Biological Oceanography (BO) - Chap 3 sections 1-4, Chap 4 sections 1 to 6.
• 4 April.: Organization of Discussion Section and cruise.

WEEK 2
• 9 April 8 AM 3:30 PM cruise. (Note: if the weather is bad we will meet for a lecture or...) Readings for Week 3: in BO Chap 5 and 6
• 11 April. : Misc. topic relating to presentations and writing papers.

WEEK 3
• 16 April. 8:30 AM: Lec. Continuation of Introduction to the ecology of phytoplankton and marine microbes. Lab.: Work up samples from cruise. Reading for week 3 and 4: Chap 3 section 5.1 and 6; Ocean Circulation (OC) Chapters 1-3, Chapter 4 sections 1-3, Chapter 5 section 1
• 18 April.: Student Presentations.

WEEK 4
• 23 April 8:30 AM: Lec.: Introduction to Zooplankton ecology. Lab.: Work up samples from cruise.
• 25 April Review for mid-term.

WEEK 5
• 30 April Mid-term 8:30 AM - 12:00. Complete analysis of 1st Cruise. Reading for week 6 and 7: BO Chapter 3 sections 5.2 to 5.6. OC Chapter 4 section 4.4
• 2 May. Student Presentations

WEEK 6.
• 7 May 8:30 Cruise weather permitting. Reading for week 6 and 7: BO Chapter 3 sections 5.2 to 5.6. OC Chapter 4 section 4.4
• 9 May . Student Presentations.

WEEK 7
• 14 May 8:30 AM: Lec. Basin scale features. Lab.: Work up samples from cruise. Readings: To be announced.
• 16 May Student Presentations.

WEEK 8
• 21 May 8:30 AM Lec. Mesoscale features. 1 PM Lab.: Work up samples from cruise. Readings for Week 10. OC Chapter 5 sections 5.3 and 5.4, Chapter 6 section 3.1.
• 23 May Student Presentations.

WEEK 9
• 28 May 8:30 AM Vertical Structure. Lab.: Complete analysis of 2nd cruise samples.
• 30 May Student presentations.

WEEK 10
• 4 June 8:30 AM Lec. El Niño. The deep water currents and CO2. 1 PM Lab.: Work up samples from cruise if any are left.
• 6 June. Review for final

WEEK 11
• 11 June Cumulative Final Time to be announced. Lab reports due by 4 PM.

Determination of Grade
Half of your grade will be determined by the mid-term and the final. NOTE THAT THE FINAL IS CUMULATIVE. Old exams are on reserve in the classroom. The remaining half of your grade will be from lab write-ups and presentations.

Lab Write Ups and Presentations
Lab write-ups: There will be two class cruises. The results from these cruises will be written up as a lab report. The report will take the form of scientific paper, and will count for 1/4 of your grade. The format for this report will be discussed later in the class.
Short Presentations: Rather than having a traditional discussion section I am going to have you give two 10 minute presentations on a research paper(s) on topics of your choice. The only limitation I am going to put on the choice of topics is that it has to be wet. In other words, you can present on marine geology, marine chemistry, marine biology, fresh water biology, puddle biology, marine conservation, and etc. The presentation should be based on one or more research papers on the subject of your choice. You can use review articles as you prepare for your talk, but the talk itself should be on the research paper(s).
No later than 1 week after your presentation (except for the first group of presenters - those who present on 14 April - they will have 2 weeks) you will then hand in a short (2 to 3 pages) paper in which you briefly outline the paper(s) you presented, an hypothesis you would test related to the topic of your presentation, and the methods you would use to test the hypothesis. These two little papers will be in the form of the introduction and Methods section of a scientific paper. I will give a short lecture on just what I want during one of the first two Friday meetings. The grade on your presentations and short papers will make up the last 1/4 of your grade.