WILDLIFE TECHNIQUES - SYLLABUS (3 CREDITS)
Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management
College of Agriculture
Oklahoma State University
Fall Semester 2011
Instuctor: Dr. Mitch Greer Office: Agriculture Hall 467
Phone: 605-209-0324; Fax: 605-209-0324; Email: Mitchell.Greer@okstate.edu; Mailbox:
Agriculture Hall 008C
Office Hours or By Appointment
Monday
2pm-4pm
Tuesday
9am-10am
Wednesday
12pm-2pm
Thursday
9am-10am
Friday
2pm-4pm
Course Meeting Times and Locations:
Lecture – Video to be posted online the Sunday before the week that the topic it will be covered.
Lecture s will remain up for remainder of semester for students to re-watch if needed.
Course Philosophy:
To introduce the world of wildlife monitoring and management and the techniques, theory, and
processes behind it. This course will be centered on the students needs and will use many
different techniques (lecture, small groups discussion, group projects, guest lectures, lab, and in
class experiments) to help encourage the students to achieve a deeper learning of the field. The
knowledge gained in this class will prepare students for future wildlife research endeavors,
whether it is in advanced education or their career field of choice.
Objectives:
1. To learn the basic concepts of wildlife monitoring and management and be able to
critically evaluate and apply them to real world situations.
2. Develop a set of learning, research and critical thinking skills that you will use in
completion of your degrees but also throughout life.
a) We want you to evaluate yourself and your learning style; this will help you to
develop studying skills to improve learning effectiveness in this and future classes.
3. Learn communication skills in both small and large group situations, as these will be
useful in a wide variety of career fields.
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Course Topics:
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Week 1-2: Intro to class, prerequisite material, warm-up activities and group formation.
Week 3-4: Basics behind wildlife research and the scientific method.
Week 5-6: Experimental design and literature review.
Week 7-8: Habitat assessment and scale (spatial and temporal).
Week 9-10: Animal capture/survey techniques.
Week 11-12: Data analysis.
Week 13-14: Final project work time.
Week 15-16: Fix final project revisions
Required Text:
(Lecture)
1) Braun, B. E. 2005. Techniques for Wildlife Investigations and Management. Sixth
Edition. The Wildlife Society. Maryland, USA. Pgs. 974.
2) Knisely, K. 2005. A Student Handbook for Writing in Biology. Second Edition. Sinauer
Associates, Inc. Pgs. 237.
Course Webpage:
This webpage will supply many of the vital materials you will need to succeed in this class such
as class assignments, important due dates and announcements, extra readings, study aids, helpful
webpage links, and will also allow you to monitor your progress in the class.
Attendance:
You are expected to listen to all the lectures completely but they may be completed at your
leisure, during the two week period we are on the topic. There are two mandatory labs (where we
will meet in person) dates, time, and meeting times will be decided the first week of class. You
will be expected to arrive on time and stay for the entire time. As much of the work will be
completed in small groups you will have obligations to your fellow group members, such as
attending all meetings and helping to promote the groups progress. Missed assignments cannot
be made up unless it is discussed with the professor before date of missed assignment.
Course Evaluation and Assignments:
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Preliminary materials (10%)
Attendance in labs (5%)
Lab homework (25%)
Final project report (25%)
Group member evaluations (15%)
Revisions/reflection to final report (20%)
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Grading Disputes:
I am always willing to discuss questions you may have about any grading of a particular answer
or comment on any quiz, exam, or assignment. Anyone with a question needs to contact me
within one week assignment being returned. I encourage these questions as I wish to correct any
mistakes I make and by discussing such questions with me we can correct any misconceptions
you may have, to make sure similar errors are not made on future work.
Course Policies
Academic Dishonesty:
Academic dishonesty, cheating, and plagiarism: It is Unethical and Unprofessional to present
the work done by others in a manner that the student indicates that the work you are presenting is
your idea or work. Cheating, “assisting others” or plagiarizing on test, problems, papers, lab
manuals, or other assignments will result in a written/oral notification to the student(s) involved.
Depending on the seriousness of the offence, the instructor may contact the student(s) academic
advisor, department head or college dean.
In addition one of the following will be assigned as described in the OSU Academic Integrity
Policy:
A first offense in this course or any other course during your time at OSU will result in either a:
Level 1 - a “0” for the assignment or
Level 2 - an “F” for the course
A second violation during your time at OSU in this course or any other is an automatic:
Level 2 - an “F” for the course
Any violations beyond a Level 2 will result in an automatic:
Suspension for no less than one year (fall/spring & summer semesters)
ALL violations and sanctions become a part of your permanent academic record. All penalties
and sanctions follow the OSU policies on Academic Integrity
(http://osu.okstate.edu/acadaffr/aa/academicintegrity.htm).
Academic Freedom and Responsibility:
The Board of Regents manual states:
Freedom in learning. Students are responsible for learning the content of any course
of study in which they are enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University Policy, students’
academic performances shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should be
free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study. Students who
believe then an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic standards but is related instead
related to their personal opinion or conduct should first conduct the instructor of the course. If
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the student remains unsatisfied, the student may contact the department head and/or dean of the
college that offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.
Students with Disabilities:
Students with disabilities are entitled to “reasonable accommodations” under provisions of the
American with Disabilities Act. Students with disabilities should contact me within the first
week of class so that I can work with the student and the Office of Disability Services, 315,
Student Union, to accommodate the needs of the student as to give them the same opportunity to
succeed in the class as others students.
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