Application of the fossil record to environmental problem solving for a sustainable future. Using the Holocene and Deep time record to 3.8 billion years ago; emphasis on extinctions, species origination, diversification, and biotic resilience to environmental and climatic change to solve critical issues arising from anthropogenic modifications.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students: Quantitative research project report and oral presentation of student's results
Athena Title
Conservation Paleobiology
Undergraduate Prerequisite
GEOL 1122 or GEOL 1122H or GEOL 1260-1260L or ECOL 3530 or ECOL 3530E or permission of department
Graduate Prerequisite
GEOL 1122 or GEOL 1122H or GEOL 1260-1260L or ECOL 3530 or ECOL 3530E or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to apply fossil databases to analyze paleobiodiversity’s resiliency to climate and environmental change.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of conservation paleobiology by evaluating its scope and best practices.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to solve select pressing environmental issues by formulating, conducting, reporting, and presenting a conservation paleobiology project.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to produce clear and concise scientific reports, grants, and presentation abstracts for conservation paleobiology.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to formulate research hypotheses and make predictions based on those hypotheses for research work; develop appropriate research methods to test the hypotheses; and demonstrate the background scholarship and significance of the proposed research.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to maintain ethical principles in scientific communication, in writing and presentations, including proper citation of scientific work and data.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to evaluative and interactive feedback on scientific progress in class, identifying strengths and areas for improvement, aiding in the understanding of the scientific process.
Topical Outline
Week 1: Origin and History of Conservation Practices
Week 2: History and Need for Conservation Biology
Week 3: History of Hominid Use of Earth’s Resources
Week 4: Deep-Time and Near-Time Distinctions in Conservation Practices
Week 5: Biodiversity, Paleobiodiversity, and Extinctions
Week 6: Paleobiology Database: Applications for Species Extinction and Recovery
Week 7: Foundations of Ecosystem and Paleoecosystem Function
Week 8: Fossil Record of Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems
Week 9: Geohistory of Climate and Environmental Change
Week 10: Fossil Record of Adaptation and Resilience to Environmental Change
Week 11: Near-Time (Holocene) Conservation Applications and Practices
Week 12: Deep-Time (Pre-Holocene) Conservation Applications and Practices
Week 13: Anthropocene, Rewilding, and Earth Systems Going Forward
Week 14: Scientific Interactive Panel Discussions
Week 15: Research Symposium: Reports, Presentations
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
