Courses and Theses

Bachelor Courses

Rain Forest Ecology (FS)
Course coordinator: Jaboury Ghazoul
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

Tropical rain forests contain most of the world's terrestrial biodiversity as well as immense carbon stores, and support the livelihoods of 1.5 billion people. This course addresses the ecology and management of tropical rain forests with a view to understanding the impact of land use change on their biodiversity, as well as food security, carbon storage, poverty alleviation and climate change.

Naturschutz und Naturschutzbiologie (FS)
Course coordinator: Florian Knaus
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

In this course, the students explore the theoretical foundations, conceptual models and practical implementations of conservation activities both in Switzerland and internationally. Based on case studies, they are introduced to different views, values and ideals inherent in these activities.

Integrated Practica: Field Ecology (FS)
Course coordinator: Jaboury Ghazoul and Adelaide Sanders
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

This first-year Bachelor course allows students in small groups to develop their own research question, design and carry out data collection in the field and finally analyse and contextualise their results.

Integrated Practica: Understanding Complexity through Systems Approaches (FS)
Course coordinator: Giacomo Vaccario, Anne Dray and Maaike Goedkoop
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

The course focuses on developing system dynamic models for socio-technical transitions. With the practical case of upscaling the use of wood for construction, students will interact with stakeholders of the wood supply chain and model 1) their relations, 2) emerging non-linear dynamics (e.g., feedbacks and tipping points), and 3) trade-offs between economic, societal, and environmental benefits.

Master Courses

Readings in Environmental Thinking (HS)
Course coordinator: Jaboury Ghazoul
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

The rise of the environmental sciences, and the increasing importance of the environment in society and governance, has been dramatic and rapid. Issues in the environmental sciences are now so broad and important that they reach into all aspects of society, from food and land use, to water management, energy use, economics, culture and health. With such breadth it is easy to lose sight of the foundational ideas, texts, people and movements that pushed the environment up the social and political agenda. The course provides students with opportunities to read, discuss, evaluate and interpret key texts that have shaped the environmental movement and, more specifically, the environmental sciences.

Ecological Assessment and Evaluation (HS)
Course coordinator: Florian Knaus
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

The course provides methods and tools for ecological evaluations in nature conservation and landscape planning. It deals with census methods, sampling designs, ecological indices and criteria evaluating ecological data. Objectivty and accuracy of vailable methods and tools are critically appraised. Birds and plants are used as main example guiding through different case studies.

Foundations of Ecosystem Management (HS)
Course coordinator: Jaboury Ghazoul and Anne Dray
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

Failure of traditional management has stimulated ecosystem management approaches that emphasise functionality of human-dominated systems, ecological processes and services, diverse spatial and temporal scales, and multiple stakeholder interests. This course explores ecosystem approaches to management and asks: is it realistic, how can it be achieved, and what are the barriers to its uptake?

Applied Ecosystem Management (Fieldcourse in Serbia, FS)
Course coordinator: Florian Knaus
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

This course introduces students to an unfamiliar socio-ecological system that combines high depopulation rates and corruption with extraordinary cultural and biological diversity under high threat of loss. This system is explored with local stakeholders and in the field, analysed and measures identified that support both conservation and development goals.

Conservation and Landscape Management (Fieldcourse in Scotland, FS)
Course coordinator: Jaboury Ghazoul
Course contents and resources: Moodle site for the course

This course will explore how conservation and restoration is being implemented in the Highlands of Scotland, what conflicts across landscape and resources arise, and how such conflicts might be resolved. By visiting projects and locations, and by interviewing experts and practitioners, students will evaluate how restoration goals might be implemented across a range of social and environmental priorities. For more impressions there are two videos below.

Theses

For Master Theses offered by the Ecosystem Management group please check on the USYS-Moodle page.