UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, Department of Geography
Geography of Past Environments (GEOG 437/637)
FALL 2002 Syllabus
Dr. Franco Biondi
The characterization of environmental history serves to guide landscape conservation, restoration and management programs, as well as the prediction of environmental processes. The addition of a deep historical dimension to analyze and interpret landscapes and ecosystems requires that we sacrifice some of the analytical elegance that can be achieved in the laboratory. Paleodata, as well as archaeological and historical data, are usually collected for many purposes, vary widely in sampling methods and quality, and are less amenable to many types of statistical analysis than well-controlled experiments. However, it is impossible to generate realistic null hypotheses about the structure and dynamics of landscapes and ecosystems from our understanding of the present alone, because Earth’s surface features are products of the natural and cultural processes that have shaped them over time.
The objective of this class is to obtain a spatial understanding of Earth's past features and dynamical processes, with emphasis on three distinct time periods, defined by their starting date: (1) the last 1000 years, during which large-scale climatic episodes at decadal to centennial time scales are better understood than during previous millennia; (2) about 500 years ago, when the first European trade-based colonial expansion initiated large environmental changes in the Americas and elsewhere around the globe; (3) the end of the 19th century, when human influences on global (e.g. fossil fuels burning) and regional (i.e. livestock grazing, fire suppression) scales began escalating to modern levels. Emphasis is partly upon the methodologies used for analyzing natural archives of climatic and ecological dynamics, especially tree rings. This course is interdisciplinary in goals and content, and will be taught using a mixture of lectures, analysis of case studies, class readings and discussion, and individual or group projects.
Class Hours and Location: W 2:30-5:15 pm, in 227 Mackay Science Hall or 100 Mackay Social Sciences (check with the instructor for details).
Office Hours: W, 1:30-2:30 or by appointment. Please come and see me to talk about any questions you might have on the class. I am here for you.
Office: 225 Mackay Science Hall
Phone: 784-6921
Email: fbiondi@unr.edu
Web site: http://unr.edu/homepage/fbiondi/teach.html (selected class material, class grades, etc., will be available through UNR’s WebCT system - see detailed instructions below).
Prerequisite: GEOG 103 or GEOL 101
Special Needs: If a student requires special classroom or exam accommodations because of a documented disability, please let the instructor know at the beginning of the semester.
All reading materials will be
available from the Reserve Room of the DeLaMare Library in Mackay Mines
Building, north end of Quad. Specific chapters will be selected from the
following texts:
- Bonnicksen, T.M. (2000). America's Ancient Forests. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
- Bradley, R.S. (1999). Paleoclimatology. 2nd ed., Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
- Egan, D., and E.A. Howell, Eds. (2001). The Historical Ecology Handbook: A Restorationist's Guide to Reference Ecosystems. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
- Gates, D.M. (1993). Climate Change and its Biological Consequences. Sinauer, Sunderland, Massachusetts.
- Grayson, D.K. (1993). The Desert's Past: A Natural Prehistory of the Great Basin. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
- Neville, B. (2001). History and Climate Change. Routledge, London.
Additional reading materials will be provided in class during the semester.
Undergraduate Requirements
Undergraduate students will be graded according to their score on two Exams, two Homework assignments, a Research Project, and Participation. There is no final exam.
Graduate students, in addition to all undergraduate requirements, will be asked to present their research project to the class during the final week (see detailed instructions below). Their homework assignments will be two comparative essays, 1000 to 1500 words in length, and based not only on class material but also on the student’s literature review. Graduate students will also use their homework assignments as starting points to lead class discussions lasting one hour or longer. Tests will include at least one short-essay or exercise question for graduate students only. The outcome of the research project will be a research paper written according to the Guide for Authors of an international, peer-reviewed, scientific journal chosen by the student. The grade assigned to the paper will then depend not only on research quality and writing clarity, but also on how closely the student followed the journal’s instructions.
Grading breakdown: Grad. Undergrad.
|
Exams (2 x 50) |
100 |
100 |
|
Homework (2 x 50) |
100 |
100 |
|
Research Project |
200 |
200 |
|
Class Presentation |
50 |
|
|
Attendance and participation |
50 |
100 |
|
TOTAL |
500 |
500 |
Final letter grades may have a plus or minus according to the following scheme:
A = 93% or higher; A- = 90-92.9%; B+ = 87-89.9 %; B = 83-86.9 %; B- = 80-82.9 %;
C+ = 77-79.9 %; C = 73-76.9 %; C- = 70-72.9 %; D+ = 67-69.9 %; D = 63-66.9 %;
D- = 60-62.9 %; F = < 60 %
Students will be able to monitor their individual grades (including the final letter grade) on the class WebCT site.
How to succeed in this class:
ü Ask questions
ü Keep up with the class material
ü Think carefully about your research project
ü Be creative
ü Participate in class discussions
ü Remember deadlines
ü Use the class web site
ü Practice your final presentation (graduate students only)
Research Project
Each student will be required to complete an original research project. This will expose students to an unsolved question, and to the challenge of finding the best possible answer by means of creative and critical thinking. A research project implies making new observations, reading the scientific literature, and analyzing data. The outcome of the project will be a written report (undergraduates) or a research paper (graduates), as well as a class presentation during the final week (graduates). The research project will include the following components:
--------- DUE EARLY TO ALLOW FOR FEEDBACK
--------- FIRST GRADING (10%)
--------- SECOND GRADING (40%)
----------- THIRD GRADING (50%)
Specific deadlines will be set in the class calendar for each component of the project. Each phase (first, second, and third) will be graded individually, but with a possibility of revision. As usually happens in any research project, ideas and plans are refined as work progresses. By revising their previous work, students will have an opportunity to improve their previous grades. For example: the title, abstract, and literature/dataset identification are due after the first week of the semester, to allow the instructor to give students early feedback on their ideas. The first score (10% of the whole Research Project grade) will be assigned after students turn in the justification and objectives (at this time, graduate students must also submit the Guide for Authors of the journal they’ll write the paper for). If the scope of the research is vague and not well justified, the first score will be low. However, this is only an indication that the student needs to work diligently to refine the research question. The second grade (40% of the whole Research Project grade) will be assigned after students submit the literature review and study plan. At this time, if along with the new components students provide a revised research justification and objectives, the instructor will revise the first score as well as assign the second score.
Therefore, with each new phase of the project, students have the opportunity to revise and improve their work, so that they can continue to increase their scores throughout the semester. The final product of the research project will be a research report for undergraduates, a research paper and class presentation for graduates. Undergraduate students are required to provide a class report by joining and ‘cleaning up’ the individual project components. Graduate students will need to submit their research as a paper suitable for publication in a scientific journal. The length of the paper should not exceed 2000 words (excluding references, tables, and figures). While papers from graduate students need to follow the Guide for Authors of a preferred journal, papers from undergraduate students do not. Graduate papers will be due the week before class presentations begin; undergraduate reports will be due the last day of class (check the calendar for details).
Presentation of the research project to the class will need to be in PowerPoint format, which can easily be displayed using the smart classroom equipment. Presentations are scheduled for the last week of class. We will mimic the style of professional meetings, with about 20 minutes allocated to each speaker. PLEASE REGISTER by providing your presentation title and the time you would prefer. Each slot will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis.
Speaking in front of an audience is a useful opportunity to sharpen communication skills. Please try to leave one-two minutes at the end of the talk for questions and comments. Also, students may want to consider the following suggestions:
(1) Make your figures simple and clear. Labels need to be large and visible from a distance. The smart-classroom equipment is very effective at enlarging viewgraphs, but remember that text needs to be readable from the back of the room.
(2) There isn’t much time, and at least one minute should be spent on each illustration. Therefore, restrict the number of slides to those that are most relevant to the project.
(3) Organize the talk. Start with the problem: what was the reason to research this issue?, why should the audience care? Continue with the method: which data were collected?, what kind of analysis was performed? Proceed with the results: what was learnt?, what still needs to be done?
(4) Try to have only one or two conclusion points. If it’s possible to summarize the research in one sentence, please do so at the end of the talk.
Login instructions:
- Turn on the computer monitor (at the end of each session computers are left on, screens are turned off)
1. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to log in
2. A window will come up asking for your Username and Password
- Username is formed by your last name and first name initial
- Initial Password should be left blank.
Once you log onto your account, please remember to change your password. You will be the only person to know your password, so please do not forget it!
All of your work needs to be saved inside your folder, which is a subdirectory located on drive G, with the following path:
G:\F02\G314\Yourusername
Anything saved outside of your folder may be lost as soon as you log out. MAKE SURE THAT EACH PROGRAM YOU USE WILL SAVE FILES TO YOUR SUBDIRECTORY.
Class web site
The class web site is located on UNR’s WebCT system. In order to log onto the class web site you will need to enter:
- The last 6 digits of your R number (if you don’t know it, please ask me)
- Your social security number
Login Instructions:
1.
Go to http://webct.unr.edu/
Click
on Log on
2. A window will come up asking for your Name and Password
***** Name is the last 6 digits of your R number
***** Initial Password is your social security number
Once you log onto your myWebCT page, which contains a link to all your WebCT courses, please remember to CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD (click on the Change Password link at the top of the myWebCT page). You will also be asked to set up a password hint in case you forget your password.
Any updates to the class syllabus, as well as your grades, will be posted on the class web site. Please remember to hit the "Reload" button of your web browser to view the most recent changes. Material made available on the web is not intended to be a synthesis of material required for the exams.