Undergraduate Program

| Undergraduate Application Materials | Undergraduate Course Offerings | Instructors |

Undergraduate Course Offerings for 2013

Session #1 (June 15- July 13)

• Animal Behavior (Harlo Hadow)

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

• Ornithology (Roarke Donnelly)

• Advanced Mammalian Ecology (Roger Powell)

• Independent Study (Staff)

Session #2 (July 13- August 10)

• Nature Writing (Bob Marrs)

• Boreal Mammalogy (Stephen Pugh)

• Comparative Environmental Politics:  United States and Canada (Pablo Toral)

• 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

Boreal Mammalogy

Humans are fascinated by mammals.  We keep them as pets and are thrilled to see them cross our yard or path, yet we are annoyed when they nest in our sock drawer, pilfer our bird feeder, or eat our rosebush.  The study of mammals is exciting, educational, and rewarding, and can serve as the focus for understanding many important concepts and principles of ecology, behavior, systematics, and evolution.  In this course we will examine the basic biology of the mammals of Northern Minnesota.  We will study their classification, natural history, behavior, distribution, and their interactions with their environment and other organisms.  We will study them directly by conducting mark-recapture trapping studies of small mammals and we will study them indirectly by looking for signs of their activity.  We will learn about the ecology and behavior of mammals through readings, discussion, group and independent research projects, and most importantly, direct observation of mammals and their sign on canoe trips into the BWCAW. 

Prerequisite: One college biology course.

Stephen Pugh (Univ of New Hampshire at Manchester, NH)

Click here for Boreal Mammalogy 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.

Advanced Mammalian Ecology
(BIO319)

This course is for students who understand the principles of ecology and wish to develop that understanding further through advanced readings, discussion and research. Selected ecological topics (e.g. island biogeography, optimal foraging) will be developed through lecture, class readings discussion and field observation, then advanced through applied independent and class research. Includes canoe travel and field study in Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario.

Prerequisites: a Coe College Wilderness Field Station course which includes ecology, college ecology course, or permission of the instructor   

Roger Powell, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC)

Click here for Advanced Mammalian Ecology Course Description.

Comparative Environmental Politics: United States and Canada
(POL179)

How do different societies address environmental problems? Answering this question requires cross-national comparisons of political institutions, regulatory styles, and state-society relations. This course relies on the theoretical tools of comparative politics to analyze different areas of environmental management, such as protection of natural resources, wilderness preservation, contamination and transboundary pollution management, global warming, renewable energy, and sustainability, among others. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness provides an ideal location to explore how Canada and the United States address their environmental challenges at different levels of analysis, from the local to the international. Students will engage in readings and class discussions over appropriate topics, interview members of the local community on local conservation concerns, and learn experientially from canoe trips to places of key environmental significance. The course is designed for undergraduate students with an interest in political science and/or environmental studies, especially those pursuing majors or minors in those areas, but no previous knowledge of political science methodology is needed. While grounded on a comparative politics methodology, the course also draws from the natural sciences, economics, history and ethics to help students develop an interdisciplinary approach to environmental studies.

Prerequisite:  None.

Pablo Toral (Beloit College, Beloit, WI)