Biocomplexity
Teacher Workshop
May 31 – June 2, 2008
University of Puerto Rico
Goals and Objectives
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Introduce concepts associated with
biocomplexity
Introduce concepts associated with
watershed ecology
Discuss the physical, biological, and social
settings and the individual models
Identify tools to explore biocomplexity
Introduce biocomplexity concepts
Discuss integrated (biocomplexity) models
Project Description
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Broader Impacts:
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Our proposed research has several integrated
educational and policy components. In terms of
education, high school teacher workshops will
demonstrate the use of web-based GIS models
to actively engage high school senior (and
their teachers) in Puerto Rico and Colorado in
biocomplexity research.
What is Biocomplexity?
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“Biocomplexity arises from the multitude of
behavioral, biological, social, chemical, and
physical interactions that affect, sustain, or are
modified by living organisms, including
humans”
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“Integrated research teams are the way to
study complex research questions”
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Rita Colwell
Characteristics of Complexity
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Nonlinear or chaotic behavior
Interactions that span multiple spatial and temporal scales or
levels
Unpredictable behavior (hard to predict)
Hierarchical structure, scalable
Self organization
Emergent properties
Adaptive Behavior
Cascading effects
Must be studied as a whole, as well as piece by piece
Relevant for all kinds of organisms in all kinds of
environments
Surprise: Natural Disasters; unintended consequences of
human behavior
Goals of Biocomplexity
Research
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“understanding how components of the global
ecosystem interact—biological, physical,
chemical, and the human dimension—in
order to gain knowledge of the complexity of
the system and to derive fundamental
principles from it” (Colwell, 2000).
Goals of Biocomplexity
Research
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“examining the self-organization, hierarchical
structure, and dynamics of communities and
ecosystems over time and space requires
new approaches and a new generation of
nonlinear modeling, designed by
collaborators in the natural, social, and
computational sciences” (Covich, 2000).
Biocomplexity in Education
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Addresses significant contemporary issues
Requires collaboration, integration and an
interdisciplinary approach
Employs multiple modes of understanding and
learning
Engages students in a diversity of techniques and
hands-on inquiry
Allows for participation in contemporary scientific
research (questions and results)
Education Challenges
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Biocomplexity is a complex topic
Non-standardized comparisons are difficult
Cultural differences are challenging
Multiple goals are hard to pin down
Education approach
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Key Considerations
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Accessibility
Relevance
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Educational
Cultural
Transferability
Feasibility
Tools of Biocomplexity
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Statistics
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Geographic Information Systems
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Google Earth
Modeling
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ArcExplorer
Remotely sensed data
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Maps, tables, graphs
NetLogo
Field Observations
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State of the Watershed Handbook
Outcomes
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Interdisciplinarity
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Modular research
Communication
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Innovation
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Common definitions
Identify new methods
Integration
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Understanding interrelationship, thresholds