CATALOG DESCRIPTION:"A consideration of the basic concepts of ecology, including the nature of ecosystems, energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, and characterisitics of populations and communities of organisms.  The role of humans in the ecosphere will be emphasized, with particular attention to human population problems, food production, and pollution problems."  (An evening trip into our local swamps is often a course activity.)  LECTURE   3.0 CREDITS
  

A field trip to a regional ecosystem is something that students of Human Ecology enjoy.  Here is a class on a trip to Shell Bank Bayou, an ancient stream through Manchac Swamp.  Not only is the trip fun, but the learning that goes on is especially valuable to the course.  In this photo, students are "rafted" together to listen to a brief interpretive talk with a followup discussion.  Students of past trips say this sort of field experience "makes the lecture information come alive".  They see and feel the natural world while learning about ecosystem concepts, impacts of endangered species, the idea of 'wilderness', and about wetlands.  This non-majors course is a great introduction to the impact of humans on the biosphere.  To do well you need to like a challenging experience, but one that will change the way you see yourself in interaction with the natural world.  Sign up!

A visit to Jean Laffite National Historical Park is another possible trip in Human Ecology.  This park is a great place to see examples of the several kinds of wetlands so common to southeastern Louisiana.  Students learn about 'introduced' species, and about the impacts of elevation on regional wetlands.  The adundant animal of the area is often seen.  The left photo is of a swamp in Fall color and the right photo is a 100 year old bottomland hardwood forest.

Students of this course learn a great deal about the "human condition" from the perspective of a natural scientist.  First covered in the course is basic ecological science (very different from "environmentalism"), and then the course takes up the human impacts on the biosphere.  Humans are viewed as a most quintessential 'keystone' species.  Students learn from different scales of time: deep time, evolutionary time, ecological time and recent time.  The course covers very diverse topics; from human evolution, origin of life, what is pollution, wetland loss, impact of dams, to basic limnology.  It is fun, but a serious course that requires considerable critical reading, an innate interest in the subject, and self discipline to attend all the lectures to do well.  See the syllabus below for the most recent edition of this ever changing subject.
 

SYLLABUS

Date                       Lecture Topic/Discussion

August 30             Orientation; Bearing Witness & Environmentalism vs Ecology
September 1         Film: 'In Search of America - Call of the Wild' w/discussion

              6              Holiday - Labor Day
              8              What is Science? Ecology is a science.

             13             Populations, Communities, Ecosystems
             15             Populations - the concept & characteristics

             20             Communities - the concepts & characteristics
             22             Communities continued

             27             Ecosystems - the concept & characteristics
             29             Ecosystems - Biogeochemical Cyles

October 4                      TEST I - including 'Tropical Nature'
              6              Return and discuss test

            11              Ecological Succession
            13              Ecological Succession; discuss Vitousek et al

           18               Holiday - Fall Break
           20               Discuss 'Encounters with the Archdruid'

           25               Limnology/Fishes of Streams
           27               Impacts of Dams (fish demonstration)

November 1         The Pacific Salmon controversy - native vs. hatchery fish
             3               Lake Pontchartrain & Pearl River - the ecosystems
             5               Canoe Trip - Pearl River & White Kitchen Preserve (2:30-8:30)

             8                      TEST II - including 'Encounters with the Archdruid'
           10               Return and discuss test; Biodiversity - what is it?

           15               Checker Spotted Butterfly & the Red Cockaded Woodpecker
           17               Gulf Coast Sturgeon & Lake Pontchartrain Conservation

           22               Thanksgiving Holidays
           24               Thanksgiving Holidays

           29               Wetlands
December 1          Wetland Loss & the Oyster Industry

             6                Discussion of  'The Third Chimpanzee'
             8                Discussion of "The Third Chimpanzee'

           13                         FINAL EXAM  2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This syllabus, I see as a "contract" between you and me.  You should: come to class on time, take notes, show interest, take the tests, attend the field trip, read the books and articles, and participate in class room discussion.  I will: give lectures that are at least wildly interesting, lead discussions, answer questions, makeup and grade tests fairly, arrange and guide the field trip, and assign fair grades for your overall effort.  This class does require note-taking skills - I can't say this more emphatically.  I will be spending time putting together Powerpoint lectures to hand out at the beginning of each lecture.  These handouts are not inclusive of all the material covered during class lecture time.  They are simply a slide by slide outline of my lectures.  You will have to take lecture notes either on the pages of the handout or on additional sheets of paper.  (I can promise you that your time and effort for this course will be made A LOT easier if you personally show up for class to listen to the lectures, take notes, and take part in the discussions, even if vicariously.  Having someone else take notes for you will only get you part way through the understanding of the material.)  For your information, the last time I taught this course students earned: 11 - A's, 4 - B's, 8 - C's, 4 - D's, 0 - F's.  Please check out my web site www.loyno.edu/~dawhite to look over the general course description as well as to read past student comments on the course.

Class attendance is not mandatory (see below), BUT I have never had a student do well when more than one or two classes are missed.   With this said in my relatively long teaching career, I am going to take attendance each day of class.  After the first full week of class, if you miss more than two classes, 25 points will be removed from your overall points total.  In recent years more and more incidences of "academic dishonesty" are occurring on campuses, including at Loyola.  In this class cheating and plagiarism are the common forms of dishonesty likely to be found and WILL NOT be tolerated.   Please don't be stupid and try to 'cheat'.

The first portion of this course is a basic introduction to the science of Ecology.  You've got to have some background in the science before you can be presented with any serious coverage of the 'human' side of ecology!  The second half of the course is much more of a blend of science and pertinent ecological issues of the times and region.

You should come to class excited about this important opportunity to learn aspects of your impact on this planet.  I will have some class time available for discussion on current topics.  Please participate.  Make sure you keep up with the readings, both the several books and shorter readings in the form of handouts.  I will be handing out material according to the schedule on the syllabus that must be read for the next class unless otherwise indicated.  You also have 3 paperback books to read - they are greatly different and I have received rave reviews about the books from students in past courses (again, see my web site on the course).

There is an afternoon canoe trip on November 5 into a local wetland area.  This is a Friday afternoon and there should be no course conflicts.  We will be leaving campus at 2:30 and returning about 8:30 p.m. - yes, that's returning at 8:30 p.m. after dark.  If you go on the trip you will receive 25 pts (course total then of 350 pts), and then if you write up a critique statement as to "what you learned on the trip and how it applies to the course subject" you will receive a maximum of an additional 25 pts (course total of 375 pts).  The write-up must be turned in one week after the trip by 5:00 p.m.!  It should be 2 -3 pages in length and well written.  I will not accept electronic copies of your writeup.   If for some reason you cannot make the trip, then you can earn up to 25 pts [not the full total of 50 pts (25 trip + 25 critique)] by writing a 'position' paper on some environmental subject of your choice but approved beforehand by me (for a maximum course total of 350 pts), due one full week after the trip.  If you do not do the position paper or the trip, I will calculate your grade out of 350 pts.  For each day these assignments are late 5 pts will be deducted from the maximum total.  There are NO other 'extra-credit' points available in this course.  DO NOT ask for extra credit and remember it when studying and taking the tests.)

There is one required out-of-class assignment.  The out-of-class assignment is a web-based effort that I title, your 'ecological footprint'.  You can earn up to 25 pts for it.  I have attached below an explanation statement on the exercise.  This exercise is due by December 6th at the end of class.  Each 24 hr period it is late I will deduct 5 pts from your total score.

ONLY two tests will be given in this course, each worth 100 pts.  There are NO makeup tests unless you contact me personally before the test AND have a legitimate excuse that might require a written letter of explanation.  Otherwise, no makeup tests.  The final exam will be given on December 13 between 2:00 and 4:00.  It also is worth a total of 100 pts.  If you miss the final exam you WILL fail the course.  The Final Exam is not entirely cumulative, but nearly so - I will explain what I mean by this near exam time.

Grading:  2 tests @ 100 pts  =  200 pts                Grading Scale 85% - 100%  A
                 1 final exam @ 100 pts =  100 pts                                75% -   84%  B
                 Canoe Trip + critique =    50 pts                                   65% -   74%  C
                 Ecological Footprint =    25 pts                                      50% -   64%  D
                                                                                                          49% -     0%  F
 
 

An “ecological footprint” represents the productive acreage of the earth required to support the lifestyle of one individual in a given population. It estimates the amount of land used for crops, grazing, forest products, and housing, the amount of ocean area exploited for food, as well as the amount of forests needed to absorb carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use. The average footprint of people in industrialised countries (20 acres per person) is four times as large as those in developing countries (5 acres per person). Humankind now uses one-third more resources than nature can sustainably replenish, which may lead to an overshooting of global carrying capacity.

To calculate your own ecological footprint, and how it compares to others in the U.S. and world, work through the information links, questions, and calculation sheets provided in the Redifining Progress websites at: <www.rprogress.org/programs/sustainability/ef/> and <www.lead.org/leadnet/footprint/default.htm>. Work through the information and questions for the short version, calculate your “footprint,” print out the pages, and then provide a 2 - 3 page analysis and reaction to what you’ve learned through the exercise.  Remember, that this is worth a maximum of 25 pts.  Below are some additional environmental websites that can help you learn more about our national and global environmental problems.  You should visit several of them to help in your overall analysis of your footprint and therefore improve your writeup, and thus understanding of the concept of your 'footprint'.

        The United Nations Environmental Programme: <www.unep.org>

        The United States Environmental Protection Agency: <www.epa.gov>

        The Worldwatch Institute: <www.worldwatch.org>

        Greenpeace: <greenpeaceusa.org>

        Population Reference Bureau: <www.prb.org>

        PopNet: <www.popnet.org>

        The World’s Water: <www.worldwater.org>

        The World Bank: <www.worldbank.org/data/>

        Rocky Mountain Institute: <www.rmi.org>

        The Nature Conservancy: <www.nature.org>

        World Wildlife Fund: <worldwildlife.org>
 

STUDENT COMMENTS -

Below, I present a selected set of positive comments from responses to my own course evaluation before the standardized college-wide process began Spring, 2001.  For a more complete and less biased selection of statements on this course, please check out my student 'comments' page for a complete evaluation of this course, as well as my other courses.

Fall 2000

'The best experience I had in the course was the reading outside of class.  I felt I was learning at a pace that I enjoyed.'  'The professor was extremely friendly and fair and knowledgeable.'  "I enjoyed all of the books and learned so much from them.'  'Dr. White is a fantastic and interesting professor.  Kudos to him.  No seriously, he rocks the party because he is so freakin' funny!'  'I thought this course was one of the best I've had at Loyola because of the teaching style and approach and lso because the subject matter was made interesting and exciting.'  'I learned more in this class than any other core curriculum course.'  'I personally enjoyed this class very much and it helped build on my introduction to college life.  I like the lecturing style and I found the teacher to be fair and objective as possible as neccessary.'  'I feel like I learned a great deal of valuable information that I'll use for the rest of my life.'

Fall 2002

'Good intro course to the concept of ecology and human interaction with it. Animated, passionate about subject matter.' 'I could tell the professor cared deeply about the subject matter and student's grades; enthusiasm was always present. Great passion for teaching/student interactions.' 'The readings were very good.  They were eye openers to people who don't normally think about their environment.  The canoe trip was a valuable experience.' 'Great books. Excellent field trip. Strong lecturer - the course is well planned and enjoyable.' 'All three selections of books were fascinating, and an effective amount of material without over loading us. Dr. White really opens the doors of the world of ecology and environmentalism in an exciting way.  He is passionate about what he teaches, and that passion is contagious.  I'm not a science person, but this was definitely my favorite class this semester.'
 

THIS CALVIN & HOBBES CARTOON IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES.  STUDENTS OF THIS COURSE WILL LEARN ALOT ABOUT WHY I FEEL THIS WAY!

SAMPLE TEST

Below is a representative test over the set of material I presented the first part of the Spring, 1996 semester.  The material does vary from semester to semester!
 
 

March 28, 1996                               TEST II                                     Name:_______________
                                             HUMAN ECOLOGY

I.  Definitions. Define each of the following words or concepts. For full credit you'd better be
    complete. Give examples or illustrations if appropriate. 5 pts each.
     1. Fall Turnover:
 
 
 
 
 
 

     2. Eutrophication:
 
 
 
 
 
 

     3. Epilimnion:
 
 
 
 
 
 

     4. Species Diversity:
 
 
 
 
 
 

     5. Toxic Chemical:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

II.  Short Answer.
     1. What's the chapter titled "Southbound" about, in the book Tropical Nature? 1 pt

     2. List the gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. 5 pts

     3. How old is the earth? 1 pt

     4. What's the human population size? 1 pt

     5. What's the U.S. population? 1 pt

     6. How old is the species, Homo sapiens? 1 pt

     7. Name a toxic chemical. 1 pt

     8. Name an organophosphate. 1 pt

     9. Is water moving faster over rocky or over sandy substrate? 1 pt

   10. Name a gas that is produced in the anaerobic environment. 1 pt

   11. Name a gas produced in the aerobic environment. 1 pt

   12. How old is the oldest fossil bacteria? 1 pt
 

III. Short essay.
     1. From Tropical Nature, briefly describe any three of the following. 3 pts each.
            Mycorrhizal associations, Secondary compounds, pollination mechanisms, dispersal
            mechanisms, epiphyte.
 
 
 
 
 
 

     2. Why is it so difficult to project accurate estimates of the human population? 5 pts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

IV.     Longer Essay.
      1. Describe the ecological/biological characteristics of a tropical rainforest. 10 pts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    2. Briefly describe our atmosphere; it's layers, gas composition, etc. Why is ozone important?
        10 pts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    3. Briefly describe how municipalities treat domestic sewage. 10 pts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    4. Describe the ecological impact of reservoir construction on the upstream and downstream
        ecosystems. 15 pts