Undergraduate Program

| Undergraduate Application Materials | Undergraduate Course Offerings | Instructors |

Undergraduate Course Offerings for 2012

Session #1 (June 9- July 7)

• Environmental Law: The Wilderness Act and
  the Fight for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
  (David Hayes)

• Ornithology (Roarke Donnelly)

• Aquatic Ecology (Mike Swift)

• Independent Study (Staff)

Session #2 (July 16- August 13)

• Nature Writing (Bob Marrs)

• Animal Behavior (Harlo Hadow)

• Environmental Microbiology (Alex Michaud)

• Independent Study (Staff)
  
  
  

BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Animal Behavior
(BIO285)

Animals engage in a bewildering diversity of behaviors: moths "jam" the sonar of bats, wasps try to mate with flowers, whales communicate over kilometers of open ocean, and bees "dance" to tell their sisters when and where to forage. In this class we will explore both the ways scientists have tried to unravel the mysteries of animal behavior and the understanding that this research has provided. The unifying principle of most modern studies of animal behavior studies is that behavior, like morphology, physiology or cellular processes, has evolved under natural selection. To begin to fully understand animal behavior, however, we will look at behavior from several perspectives, including its physiological, genetic and environmental causes as well as its adaptive significance. We will review studies from around the world and apply what we learn from these to questions about species found in the boundary waters region.

Prerequisite: One college biology course.
Harlo Hadow (Coe College)

Click here for Animal Behavior Full Course Description

Aquatic Ecology
(BIO275)

Ecology is the experimental study of the distribution and abundance of organisms.  Their distribution and abundance is determined by interactions among individuals and with their physico-chemical environment.   In this course we will study aquatic communities in the diverse stream, lake, bog, and wetland habitats available at the Wilderness Field Station and in the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) and Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park (Quetico).

Prerequisite: One college biology course.
Mike Swift (St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN)

Click here for Aquatic Ecology Full Course Description

Ornithology
(BIO165)

Humans have long been interested in birds because they are charismatic, fellow vertebrates and reliable indicators of environmental conditions. Our interest has made the scientific study of birds (ornithology), one of the richest animal-based sciences. This course introduces ornithology and focuses on the breeding biology and ecology of the diverse avifauna nesting in pristine and moderately disturbed habitats near the field station. Canoe trips provide opportunities to practice bird identification, to discuss the adaptiveness of bird anatomy and physiology, and to observe nesting gulls, herons, and Bald Eagles. This course satisfies the lab science requirement and elective credit requirements for biology majors in most schools.

Prerequisite: None.
Roarke Donnelly (Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, GA)

Click here for Ornithology Full Course Description

The Coe College Field Station is located on the doorstep of the celebrated Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), a region that has been witness to several fervent and emotional battles over its designation as wilderness. This class provides an introduction to environmental law and the effort to control the effects of human activity on land and water. After an overview of basic environmental law covering property rights and wilderness protection, the class will focus on these concepts as they apply to the BWCAW, local communities, recreation and use of the area. Significant time will be spent on the legislative efforts to establish the BWCAW and subsequent judicial interpretation of those laws. Because the "open classroom" of the Field Station encourages discovery of wild places coupled with a spirit of adventure and exploration, multiple trips to areas of different legal wilderness status will be taken to help evaluate the practical effects of the disparate levels of protection.

Prerequisites: None.
David Hayes (Coe College)

Click here for Environmental Law Full Course Description

This course investigates strategies for writing about the natural world in an informal workshop format. Class members explore the terrain around the Field Station and share with each other their written observations about those experiences. The composition assignments invite everyone to express their insights in various genre options: daily field journals, essays, poetry, short fiction, journalistic articles, memoirs, etc. By exploring and writing about this immersion into the north woods--plus reading works by such classic naturalists as Thoreau, Muir, Leopold, Olson, and McPhee--we should all gain a richer understanding of our relationship with the wilderness.

Prerequisite: None.
Bob Marrs (Coe College)

Click here for Nature Writing Full Course Description.

Environmental Microbiology
(BIO535)

This class identifies, and examines the role of, microbes in the environment with a special focus on the Boundary Waters ecosystems. Some topics covered are microbial diversity in aquatic, wetland, and upland ecosystems, nutrient cycling, biogeochemistry, biodegradation and bioremediation. Methods of studying microbes in situ are a special emphasis of the course.

Prerequisite: One or more of the following: Microbiology, Genetics, or
Organic Chemistry.

Alex Michaud (Montana State University, Bozeman, MT )
Click here for Environmental Microbiology Course Description.