ECOL 592 Interdisciplinary Seminar
These unique seminars provide cutting edge ecology topics which are changed and updated each semester.
Please note: Be sure to register for the correct number of credits listed next to the course descriptions.
Fall 2026
ECOL 592-001
CRN: 65074
Credits: 1
Grading: Traditional
Enrollment Limit: 20
Dates:
08/31/2026 –
12/06/2026
This course is scheduled to meet in-person on Fridays from 11:00-11:55 am.
The Ecology of Soil
Instructors: Dr. Melinda Smith and Chance Roberts
Course description: Course Description: Soil ecology is the study of the diversity of life in soil, how it is varies in space and time, and how interactions among plants, soil organisms, and their consumers shape terrestrial ecosystems and their functioning. In this course, students will read the recently published book entitled “The Ecology of Soil: From communities to ecosystems” by Dr. Richard D. Bardgett. Students will base their class presentations on a book chapter and current literature related to the topic. Students will be graded on class participation and presentations.
Biodiversity in War Zones – Conflict, Conservation, and Reconciliation
Instructors: Dr. Joel Berger (Cox Chair in Wildlife Conservation Biology)
Course description: As global conflict increasingly intersects with the world’s most biodiverse regions, we face a critical question: What happens to nature when safety and danger persist simultaneously?
- The “Refuge” Paradox: Why some militarized borders harbor extraordinary species diversity.
- Lessons from Animal Models: Understanding risk and resilience in non-human communities.
- Global Case Studies: From the American War in Vietnam to current conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran.
ECOL 592-002 / FW 696-2
CRN: 78490
Credits: 2
Grading: Traditional
Enrollment Limit: 20
Dates: 08/24/2026 –
12/21/2026
This course is scheduled to meet in-person on Mondays 5:00–7:00 pm.
ECOL 592-003
CRN: 65079
Credits: 1
Grading: Traditional
Enrollment Limit: 20
Dates:
08/31/2026 –
12/30/2026
This course is scheduled to meet in-person on Wednesdays from 2:00 PM-3:15 PM.
Indoor Ecology: The Wild Life of a Single Campus Building
Instructors: Dr. Sara Bombaci and Bradley Allf
Course description: While modern ecologists spend much of our lives indoors, we have long overlooked the ecological processes taking place there: inside our homes, offices, and classrooms. Yet the “great indoors” can be a biodiverse landscape in which a variety of interesting ecological phenomena take place. In this course, we will read the handful of papers describing and surveying the indoors– a globe-spanning environment now larger than some natural ecosystems. However, we will spend the majority of the semester doing fieldwork: cataloguing, identifying and pondering the wild insects, arachnids, and other taxa (plants? vertebrates?) found within a single campus building, with the goal of drafting a co-authored manuscript together about our findings by the end of the semester.
Social-ecological Vulnerability and Adaptation to Environmental Hazards
Instructors: Dr. Jon Salerno & Dr. Maya Daurio
Course description: Disasters are socially and ecologically co-constituted, shaped by the relationships between humans and their environment. Globally, people and the environments in which they live are increasingly subject to disaster and social-ecological conditions of uncertainty due to climate change and extreme weather. Environmental hazards leading to disaster can have long term impacts on people, wildlife, watersheds, and ecosystems. At the same time, ecological processes, such as wildfire or flooding, can benefit ecosystems even while they are detrimental to human lives and livelihoods.
In this seminar, we will examine the social-ecological complexities of disaster, environmental hazards, and climatic uncertainty in various contexts from around the world. Situated in different social and ecological settings relevant to students’ thematic interests, we will explore theory and methods from various fields applied to understand relationships between people and their environments relevant to navigating and adapting to risk, hazards, and uncertainty. Students will engage in weekly readings and discussions. There will be at least one field trip to the Cameron Peak Fire burn area, with date and exact location TBD.
Students will be evaluated based on attendance, participation, and facilitation of discussions on papers selected by students.
ECOL 592-004
CRN: 65233
Credits: 1
Grading: Traditional
Enrollment Limit: 20
Dates: 08/31/2026 –
12/06/2026
This course is scheduled to meet in-person on Wednesdays 1:00 PM –1:50 PM.
ECOL 592-005
CRN: 67756
Credits: 1
Grading: Traditional
Enrollment Limit: 15
Dates:
08/31/2026 –
12/07/2026
This course is scheduled to meet in-person on Mondays from 1:00 pm -1:50 PM.
Disease Ecology in the ‘Real’ World: How Politics, Philosophy, and Communication Intersect with Science
Instructors: Dr. Georgia Titcomb and Dr. Alan B. Franklin
Course description: Diseases that intersect ecological systems and impact human and agricultural health are increasing and becoming more prominent in the political arena. Topics, such as the origins of COVID-19, pandemic preparedness, vaccine misinformation, and the catastrophic effects of diseases on livestock and wildlife populations have become national news. In this course, we delve into broader scientific and philosophical aspects of disease ecology, including exploring and debating ‘wicked problems’, and the impact of communication about disease in our current information landscape. Example topics include:
• Debating the origins of Covid-19, covering issues such as bias in science, political issues, and public (mis)understanding of the scientific process, etc.
• Exploring and debating the utility of predictive models in the emergence of novel diseases and how it can exemplify larger issues, such as the difficulty of predicting rare events with incomplete data, the politics of dealing with unexpected outbreaks, etc.
• Exploring the concept of One Health and whether it adequately includes ecology as a key component.
This course will focus on critical thinking of emerging issues, such as those above, and open debate of conflicting views of those issues. Students will be evaluated based on their participation.
The Role of functional Traits in Ecology
Instructors: Dr. Caroline Havrilla, Abigail Ridder and Nora Bales
Course description: Functional traits, characteristics that influence an individual’s survival, reproduction, and growth, are increasingly being used across the field of ecology. In this seminar we will investigate the ecological foundations of functional traits and how they can be used to understand ecosystems. We will investigate questions including: Why do we study traits? How do traits link to ecological theory? And how do we analyze traits in R?
The class will work through the book entitled “The Handbook of Trait-Based Ecology: From Theory to R Tools” (Bello et al. 2021). Students will present on a chapter of this book and participate in a small project using data from a public trait database. Each week of the course will focus on an aspect of functional trait ecology (response and effect traits, intraspecific trait variation, etc.) and relevant recent literature. Students will be graded on their presentation and on participation in group discussion.
ECOL 592-006
CRN: 67825
Credits: 1
Grading: Traditional
Enrollment Limit: 24
Dates: 08/25/2026 –
11/17/2026
This course is scheduled to meet in-person from 12:30 PM to 1:50 PM on Wednesdays.
ECOL 592-007
CRN: 80030
Credits: 1
Grading: Traditional
Enrollment Limit: 10
Dates:
08/26/2026 –
11/18/2026
This course is scheduled to meet in-person on Wednesdays from 3:00 PM-4:00 PM.
The Science and Policy of Species Conservation
Instructors: Dr. Kristen Ruegg and Erica Robertson
Course description:
How does scientific research influence conservation policy? How do species receive legal protections, and who decides when action is needed? This course explores the intersection of science, policy, and conservation by examining how threatened and endangered species are protected in the United States. You will learn how scientific evidence is used to inform conservation decisions at global, federal, state levels, with particular emphasis on IUCN listing criteria, the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and the California Endangered Species Act. Through case studies, discussions, and guest presentations you will gain insight into the challenges and opportunities of translating science into management action. In the second half of the course, you will participate in a real-world policy exercise in which you will work together to develop a letter of support for the listing of a species under CESA. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of how conservation decisions are made and how scientists can effectively engage in policy processes to support biodiversity conservation.
Course Structure: All classes will include in class activities and discussion. We will research and prepare questions for our guest speakers in preparation for their visit during the following class period. We will also have in class activities to gain a deeper understanding of some of the major themes.