Prerequisites: Bio Majors: Senior standing with all prerequisites for biology. Education or other majors or Biology minors: See me to determine if your course background is sufficient. Senior standing is required.

Office Hours (P-187): By Appointment. Phone: 8113. Please try to handle things directly after class or by e-mail. E-mail: btietjen@bellarmine.edu

Grading: Your final grade will be computed as follows:

• Tests and Quizzes - 40%
• Term Project - 30%
• Laboratory Reports and Homework - 30%
• The final percentages for an A: 95%+, A- 90-94, B+ 87-89, B 84-86, B- 80-83, C+ 77-79, C 76-70, D 69-60

Exams: There will be an undetermined number of tests and quizzes and all but the final will be unannounced.  Exams/quizzes  will be essay in format and will cover material from my class presentations, readings, homework, and laboratories.

Term Project: You and perhaps a partner will perform a short independent project on a topic related to ecology. Projects can be in any area of ecology, with my approval and based on equipment limitations. You must have your project approved. Possibilities include studies in behavioral ecology, population sampling, environmental ecology, computational ecology, physiological ecology, competition, plant growth, etc. You should choose your project early in the semester if you plan on doing field research that could be affected by changes in the weather. You will present your project to the class as a Power Point presentation during the final exam period. A written report with a literature survey and appropriate statistical analysis will also be turned in. 

1. You are expected to attend every class. If, because of illness or family problems, you miss a class you are responsible for the material we covered.
2. If you sleep in class you will be marked as absent.
3. For every three unexcused absences  your final grade will drop a complete letter grade.
4. If you miss a test or quiz for any reason you can make it up during the last week of class. The makeup can be based on any information from the semester, not only the content of the quiz/test that you missed (makeups are comprehensive).
5. Assigned readings must be completed by the next class session unless otherwise noted. Consider the readings "fair game" for tests or quizzes.
6. Do all required assignments and turn them in on time. The deadlines are real. Late assignments are not accepted.
7. If you don't understand parts of the lecture, laboratory, or outside assignments it is your responsibility to ask questions.
8. Keep up with the lectures and readings.
9. If you miss a movie you should make arrangements to view it on your own time.
10. Take note of the websites we visit during class so you can revisit them while studying.