On a piece of paper write down:
• Name
• Your university
• What background do you have in either
marine biology or animal behavior?
• What is something you hope to learn in this
class? (e.g. specific interactions you are interested in, topics that
interest you?)
Marine Behavioral Ecology
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Hill
Classroom Introductions
• Name
• Your university
• What background do you have in either
marine biology or animal behavior?
• What is something you hope to learn in this
class? (e.g. specific interactions you are interested in, topics that
interest you?)
My background
• Undergraduate Marine
Biology Major
• PhD in biology and marine
ecology
– Rocky intertidal systems of
New England
– REU in Hawaii- coral reefs
– Oyster reefs on Atlantic
coasts
– Seagrass Beds on the Gulf
Coast of AL and FL
– New Zealand- Rocky subtidal
My research
• Examine the role of animal behavior, predatorprey interactions, and environmental context
(habitat structure, turbidity, flow/turbulence)
affect communities
• My goal is to help manage and restore
anthropogenically impacted marine
communities
Learning Objectives
• Learn to recognize different types of animal
behavior
• Understand evolutionary and ecological
significance of these behaviors
Learning Objectives
• Be able to design experiments to test
hypothesis about animal behavior
• Classroom exercises or group work/ Labs
Learning Objectives
• Learn how to observe and quantify behaviors
in the lab and field
Learning Objectives
• Understand how to apply behavior to a
conservation context
Textbook
• An Introduction to Behavioral Ecology
– Davies, Krebs, West (4th edition-2012)
• Also expect some readings from scientific
journals
Earning your final grade…
• Midterm 30%
• Final 30%
• Classroom, Lab, and Field Exercises 25%
– 10% of this grade is your lab notebook
• Participation 15%
Class Participation
This class requires you to learn a lot of information over a short
period of time and a large percentage of your grade is based
on your participation in lab, field, and group activities.
Therefore, your attendance and participation in class is
necessary to maintain your grade in this class. Absences will
result in a failing grade in this class.
Group Work
• We will perform group work during classroom exercises, labs,
and field work. Unless, otherwise noted, each you are
expected to turn in independent work (i.e. lab ?s, worksheets
etc). Although group work will result in similar ideas and
conclusions about topics, your assignments should be written
in your own words. Verbatim copies (or too similar copies) of
lab reports or other assignments will result in a ZERO on the
assignment for both parties.
Labs
• Each Wednesday we will perform a short lab.
These labs are designed to give you experience in
monitoring and measuring animal behavior as
well as performing experiments.
• Due to time constraints, we will compile, graph,
and discuss most lab results as a class
• We will not have formal lab reports, but you will
be required to keep a lab notebook detailing your
results/observations and each lab contains a set
of questions that must be turned in by the end of
the week.
Lab Notebooks
• All students are required to keep a written record of all laboratory
and field activities, observations, and data.
• All pages should be numbered and a "Table of Contents" page should
appear at the beginning of the journal.
• Notes and data on exercises should appear legibly and in the order in
which they were performed in class.
• It is in your journal that you will keep hand written notes, raw data
and data tables, etc. of observations or data collected for each
exercise.
• Each student should make a diligent effort to keep these notes
individually even though we will be working in groups.
• Always bring your lab notebooks to class, and keep them up to date!
• I reserve the right to collect them at any moment for a “pop” grade
Field Trip
• 3rd or 4th Wednesday (weather depending) we
will take a field trip over to Perdido Key, FL.
– Practice making behavioral observations in situ
• difficulties of monitoring field animal behavior
• You will need
– Mask, snorkel, fins (optional) and water
shoes/dive booties
– Towel, sunscreen, bug spray, water bottle, snacks,
hat (i.e. all things to prep for being outside in the
sun all day)
Lab Notebooks
• On the field trip, give basic recordings of the conditions when
in the field. For example,
• Date:
Time:
– Weather: (e.g., warm, overcast, light rain, slight breeze)
– Tide: (high, low, ebb, flood, neap, spring )
– Seas: (high seas, choppy, calm, etc.)
– Habitat: (Juncus marsh, Spartina marsh, sand flat, mud flat, jetty,
beach, etc.)
– Observed Subject: (common name or species name, individual i.d.
etc.)
– Observation Start Time:
– Observation Stop Time:
– Miscellaneous: (anything you feel pertinent not covered in above
categories)
Late Assignments/Missed Exams
• Any assignment turned in late will automatically receive a 10
point deduction for being late and another 10 point deduction
for every 24 hrs the assignment is not turned in. (e.g., 0.10-24
hrs late-10pts; 24-48hrs late-20pts etc). Exams that are
missed will result in a zero. Makeup exams are only provided
on an emergency basis (i.e. medical and family) and will only
be provided only at the discretion of the instructor.
Technology
• I prefer that laptops are not used during class because their use for
games and internet often distracts students. However, I will allow
laptops to take notes and explore topics in further detail. Please
recognize that the use of laptops to check social networking
accounts or message others (or anything not class related) is
extremely distracting to yourself and other students sitting behind
you. The instructor reserves the right to periodically check to make
sure laptops are only used for classroom activities and/or to ban
them from class entirely if they become a distraction.
• Cell phones and tablets are strictly prohibited during class and
should remain out of sight with the volume mode on silent (without
prior consent of the instructor). The use of laptops for anything
other than class work, or the use of a cell phone or tablet will
result in a 10 pt deduction from your daily participation grade per
incident.
Cheating
• Cheating will not be tolerated and any incidences will result in
a zero on the assignment and potentially an F in the class.
Copying someone else’s assignment IS cheating. Cheating will
be reported to DISL and each student’s home institution to be
dealt with according to the institution rules and regulations.
How to get an “A”
•
•
•
•
•
BE HERE!
Turn in your assignments on time
Speak up and interact!
Participate and take good notes during labs
Prepare for exams (Duh!)
I can’t sit here and stay awake any
longer!
• Grab a peppermint or cinnamon candy
(provided)
• Stand up and go to the back of the room
• A group agreement for a break (raise your
hand)