"Modeling for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology" which now has an official number EEB 408. The course will meet T,TH 10-12 (one is a lecture, the other a lab). Grading will be based on lab exercises, homeworks, and a midterm and final exam.
In this course I introduce students to the formulation and analysis of basic dynamic models in ecology and evolutionary biology, assuming no more than a calculus background. My perspective is that increasingly it is difficult for ecologists and evolutionary biologists to get by without feeling comfortable with translating between biology and descriptions of it using mathematical models, and with at least the core approaches used to analyze simple mathematical models. So my goal is to make students "model literate" in these regards. My goal is also to peak the interest of some of you in using models in your research, which for many questions could be possible even with the basic skills I teach you.
In comparison to when I taught it last year, I plan to devote more of the class and lab time to working through examples of translating between biology and the formulation and predictions of models and less on linear algebra details.
In the course I also teach students to make use of Mathematica for analyzing the types of models we discuss. Our textbook is Otto and Day's "A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution" ( http://press.princeton.edu/
If you are interested in taking the class please register as soon as you have the opportunity and also email me a little information about yourself and your interests. It is helpful for me to start to get a feel for the set of interests among students in the class so that I can choose example models that will be of the greatest interest.
Looking forward to hearing from some of you!
Annette Ostling
