Meets the following requirements: ES   

This course emphasizes field studies of the ecology of Mount Desert Island, incorporating labs and field trips.  Each exercise focuses on a central ecological concept.  Topics include intertidal biology and diversity, forest trees and site types, bedrock geology, soil biology, insect diversity, pollination ecology, freshwater biology, predation, herbivory, and the migration of birds.  Discussions include the development of natural history as a science and the role of natural selection in the evolution of diversity.  Students are expected to keep a field notebook or journal, to undertake a project, and to write a term paper.  Class meets for two lecture sessions and one lab session or two field/lab sessions per week.  The course is particularly appropriate for students concentrating in Environmental Education.

Level:  Introductory/Intermediate. Field work involves strenuous hiking. Class Limit: 14.  Lab fee
$45.  *ES*