Text for the course
The core text for this course will be Colin Reynolds 2006. "Ecology of Phytoplankton"
Weekly assignments
Most weeks there will be a short assignment that entails creating an Excel model of the process, i.e. put the equations that we have been studing that week into Excel.
Presentation
Students will prepare a short presentation that highlights a specific physiological mechanism and elaborates on the complications of adding detail to the description and model. For example, photosynthesis as a funtion of chlorophyll vs. photosynthesis as a function of different pigments and light spectra. The focus will be on the environmental conditions that make this elaboration justified.
Competition model
Each student will create a simple iterative model in Excel that explores the competition between two physiological types in the context of a competitive exclusion model. The level of detail of these models will be tailored to each student's facility with Excel.
Evaluation of modeling alternatives
Each student will write a short review on the collection of environmental models that we critiqued in the course and evaluate their relative strengths and weaknesses in particular situations. These models include: UKL "Walker" model, SALMO, DYRESM, and CE-QUAL-W2.
Undergraduate vs. Graduate work expectations
The rubric for each assignment will clearly spell out the expectations. These will usually include that undergraduate students will provide a review of the core literature (course text and lecture references) whereas the graduate students will be expected to bring in current literature and potentially focus on their own research area.
The expected effort will be the same, just a shift in focus of that effort.
Grading
| Assignment type |
points |
| 6 "weekly" assignments at 10 points each |
60 |
| presentation during weeks 7 or 8 |
20 |
| competition model and presentation |
20 |
| evaluation of modeling alternatives |
10 |
TOTAL |
110 |
The grading will be centered on the A-/B+ threshold.
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