ESM270P: Conservation Planning Practicum
Fall 2015; MW 10:00-11:15
Instructor: Ben Halpern (Halpern@bren.ucsb.edu)
Office hours: TBD (in lab)
TA: Ian McCullough (imccullough@bren.ucsb.edu)
Office hours: TBD (in lab)
Guest TA: Becca Gentry (rgentry@bren.ucsb.edu)
Oct. 12th and 14th
Overview
The class is designed to give you hands-on experience with implementing a
conservation plan, start to finish. We will focus on conservation plans that use spatiallyexplicit analyses, although you are welcome to include other aspects too.
There are two broad objectives for the class: to produce a complete conservation
plan, and to get experience with different modes of communicating about your plan. The
assignments are designed to serve these two objectives.
You are encouraged to use your GP project as the basis for your project, but you
will need to turn in the assignments per this course, even if they don’t match the
timeframe for your GP. My hope is that, if you choose to use your GP as the case study
for this class, you can use this class to do more with your GP than you would be able to
do without the class. I am keen to make the integration of this class with your GP as
painless as possible, so please meet with me to discuss any ideas, concerns or questions
you have about how best to do that.
If more than one person from your GP is in the class, you will need to do separate
projects. This will require coordination so that your efforts are complimentary, but it
should allow you to do a lot more for your GP than would be possible otherwise.
If you do not plan to use your GP for the class project, I will present several other
case studies you can use in the first week of class.
This class requires a lot of work. It is designed to give you in-depth experience
with the process, tools and analyses needed to complete a conservation plan, all within 10
weeks. In particular, there are a lot of assignments due near the end of class, so plan for
the last several weeks to be pretty intense. As always, the more you put into the class,
the more you get out of it.
Grading
Written assignments:
Conservation plan proposal: 10 pts
Data description and meta-data: 10 pts
Report outline + detailed methods: 10 pts
TBD assignment: 10 pts
Press release: 10 pts
Final report: 50 pts
Presentations:
Filmed practice presentation: 15 pts
Self-critique of your practice presentation: 10 pts
Final class presentation: 25 pts
Attendance and participation: 2 points each class (38 pts total) + 2 free pts.
TOTAL: 190pts
Class participation
Students are required to actively participate in the course. All assignments should be done
individually, not in groups. Full attendance is required, except under approved special
circumstances, such as illness or family emergency. Students must contact me
(halpern@bren.ucsb.edu) to request an excused absence prior to the lecture.
Week 1
MO, Sept 28: Class overview, introductions, overview of the conservation planning
process, start to finish
WE, Sept 30: Presentation of case study options and available data; CP tools recap.
[if you will be working on your GP, please plan a very brief overview of the data you
have and plan to get.]
Week 2
MO, Oct 5: Data management lecture (lecture); round-the-room idea pitch
WE, Oct 7: Working lab (get familiar with the data and tools you will be using)
Assignment 1: Conservation plan proposal; data management in place
Week 3
MO, Oct 12: Working lab
WE, Oct 14: Working lab
Assignment 2: Data description + metadata
Week 4
MO, Oct 19: What makes a compelling and useful report (lecture), working lab
WE, Oct 21: working lab; sign up for ‘mid-course mini-review’ time slot
Assignment 3: Report outline + detailed methods
Week 5
MO, Oct 26: mid-course mini-review; working lab
WE, Oct 28: mid-course mini-review; working lab
Week 6
MO, Nov 2: [lecture? On open source code? On making a great figure? On scientific
writing? On stats?] working lab
WE, Nov 4: working lab
Assignment 4: to be determined
Week 7
MO, Nov 9: working lab
WE, Nov 11: VETERAN’S DAY
Week 8
MO, Nov 16: working lab
WE, Nov 18: What makes a good presentation (lecture); working lab
Week 9
MO, Nov 23: Filmed presentations
WE, Nov 25: Filmed presentations, continued
Assignment 5: Filmed practice presentation; written comments on two other presenters
Week 10
MO, Nov 30: working lab
Assignment 6: Press release on key project results
Assignment 7: Self-critique of your practice presentation
WE, Dec 2: [extended class] Final presentations
Assignment 8: Final presentation (in class)
Finals Week
Due by 5pm Wednesday, Dec. 9
Assignment 9: Final report