Ecology in the Changing World - ZIP

ogólnouniwersyteckie

Participation in the course requires signing of a Declaration of Project Participant and Statement of Project Participant (during first class meeting). Resignation from the course during the semester results in the need to reimbursing ZIP for the tokens used to register for the course.

Additional requirement: minimum B2+ level of English

Ecology takes biology from the relative simplicity of individuals to explain the complexity of interactions between organisms and their environments. Its implications stretch beyond biology into environmental science and the grand challenges facing society.”

During the course we will look at what ecology has to say about global environmental changes: what processes occurring in the biosphere lead to them, what we can expect in the far and near future, and what actions we can and should take today.

We will start each topic by reading the texts selected by the lecturer and asking key questions. We will respond to them during short presentations prepared both by the lecturer and by students, as well as during discussions.

The minimum number of people in the group - 10.

Current social and technological trends and decisions taken within the next decade or two may affect the trajectory of the entire terrestrial system for the next tens of thousands of years. An inseparable part of this system is the biosphere, depending on and shaping global physico-chemical processes. The science that takes us from the biological level of individuals to explain the complexity of interactions between organisms and their environment, which extends beyond biology to science about the environment and embraces the great challenges facing society, is ecology.

During the course we will look at what ecology has to say about global environmental changes: what processes occurring in the biosphere lead to them, what we can expect in the far and near future, and what actions we can and should take today. The thematic axis of the course will be dual. On the one hand, the concept of "planetary boundaries" and the global processes on which human activity has the strongest effect, and on the other, the related processes occurring in the biosphere, and the concepts, explanations and solutions provided by science. Particular emphasis will be placed on the problem of the integrity of the biosphere and its genetic and functional diversity.

Each topic will start with reading scientific and popular texts selected by the lecturer and asking key questions. We will respond to them during short presentations prepared both by the lecturer and by students, as well as during discussions. We will reach for various presentation formats and various forms of discussion.

Classes are offered as part of the Integrated Action Program for the Development of the University of Warsaw, co-financed from the European Social Fund under POWER 3.5. The rules for the use of general university courses for PhD students in the ZIP (UW PhD Students' Regulations) are available at: www.zip.uw.edu.pl

Basic literature will consist of articles from the latest scientific press, "classical" ecological texts and popular-scienctific texts recommended by the lecturer.

Further reading: Krohne D. Ecology: Evolution, Application, Integration. Oxford University Press, and other ecology textbooks

After completing the course, students:

- understand complex environmental phenomena and processes and the importance of ecology in the modern world

- become familiar with the factors affecting the planet's environmental state and changes currently occurring in it

- indicate the main threats to biodiversity and the consequences of losing it

- have the habit of using objective sources of scientific information

- are fluent in scientific literature in English

- expand interest in science

- demonstrate the need to constantly update knowledge in the field of natural sciences, including ecology, environmental protection and nature conservation

- presence at least 8 out of 10 meetings

- knowledge of given reading and active participation in discussions

- preparation and presentation of a short (up to 7 min.) talk on one of the proposed topics

Credit based on attendance, active participation in the discussion and prepared presentation