Courses Emily Bernhardt teaches
Currently Teaching - BIO 209: Ecology for a Crowded Planet
cave painting from cover of Ecology textbook
This course borrows its title and its viewpoint from this 2004 Science paper - this new general ecology course emphasizes the role of humans in local, regional and global environments throughout our overview of ecological interactions and ecological theory. The newly redesigned course emphasizes active learning and student engagement in scientific inquiry and discussion. The Fall 2012 version will be team taught by Justin Wright and Emily Bernhardt. Duke students can visit our course WordPress site to learn more.
Next Offered in Spring 2013 - Biogeochemistry: an analysis of global change
This graduate course spans the breadth of biogeochemistry. We begin with discussions of the origins of the Universe and the formation of planet Earth. The course moves through controls on primary production and nutrient retention in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems and concludes with global element cycles. Throughout, we focus on recent changes in global biogeochemistry caused by human activity. The course closely follows the Bill Schlesinger's classic textbook Biogeochemistry: an analysis of global change (3rd edition now coauthored by Emily) with lectures and readings focusing on the latest research findings. Duke students can visit our course WordPress site to learn more
Next Offered Fall 2013-Aquatic Field Ecology
field observations in Mud Creek
This class is all about getting students to spend as much time as possible mucking about in streams, wetlands and estuaries. The goal of the course is to gain experience in making field observations, turning those observations into questions and hypotheses and then figuring out ways to test those hypotheses in the field. As such the class is much more about the scientific process than about specific scientific content. Students in the class collectively make field observations and develop the questions that guide subsequent field observations. Grading in the course emphasizes the development of scientific writing skills. This course is appropriate for students who are enthusiastic about fieldwork as well as those students that want to gain experience with the scientific method. Visit our 2011 course website to lean more.
Last Offered in Spring 2012 - Microbial Ecology and Evolution
[with lead instructor Rytas Vilgalys] This class introduces students to the fascinating world of microbes, provides training in the field and laboratory techniques used to collect, culture, sequence, clone and experimentally manipulate environmental microbes. Here's the class heading into the NCSU hog barn for some source sampling to go along with our hog lagoon microbe survey.
Last offered in Fall 2009 - Ecosystem Ecology for a Crowded Planet
NASA photo of Earth at night
This small seminar course presents concepts of ecosystem ecology within the context of current environmental policy issues. The course includes: class discussion of environmental policy issues; lectures describing the ecosystem science linked to the political issues; and student driven class activities (debates, mock trials, policy briefings) in which ecosystem science is discussed together with the ethical, social and political context. The primary goal of this course if for students to gain critical thinking skills through reading, discussing and debating both popular press and peer reviewed scientific literature. By the end of the semester students should be able to critique and compare competing claims and to formulate science based arguments to support their position on contemporary environmental issues.
