EBIO 3190: Tropical Marine Ecology
3 Credit Hours
Requisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only
Recommended: Prerequisite any two-semester introductory biology course
A&S Gen Ed: Distribution-Natural Sciences
This course examines the biology and ecology of marine ecosystems, emphasizing those occurring in tropical regions such as coral reefs. The course also covers how these ecosystems are changing and the future impact of human stress on the marine environment, as well as animal behavior, taxonomy, and underwater research.
Learning Objectives
- Identify and describe basic ocean ecosystems and taxonomic groups;
- Explain the services that different types of ocean ecosystems provide;
- Demonstrate how you would categorize an ocean animal taxonomically;
- Distinguish the difference between closely related animals (example, squid, octopus and cuttlefish within the Cephalopoda class);
- Design an experiment to test a hypothesis about animal behavior underwater;
- Interpret a marine scientific paper and discuss the findings and limitations.
In this course, you will
Complete an in-depth independent project about how humans are affecting the ocean, and a look at how underwater research is conducted including a glimpse into the 2018 Elysium Coral Triangle Expedition and the 2019 Sea and Learn program in Saba.
Lindsey Dougherty
lindsey.dougherty@Colorado.EDU
Dr. Lindsey Dougherty was scuba certified at 14 years old in a freezing, zero-visibility lake in land-locked Colorado, and has been underwater ever since. She has been fortunate enough to dive for work, research, and recreation all over the world, including teaching scuba as a PADI instructor in Zanzibar and completing over 3,000 dives as an AAUS scientific diver.
Lindsey is also an avid underwater photographer. She was a photographer/videographer for the Seattle Aquarium Indonesia Expedition, a principal coral scientist and photographer for the Elysium Expedition, and a scientist for the Sea and Learn Saba Program. Lindsey has written articles and taken underwater photographs for Biosphere, Scuba Diver Ocean Planet, and Scientific American magazines. She exhibited her work in a solo summer show at the Broomfield Auditorium and as part of the Pop! Gallery on Pearl Street in «Ƶ.
Lindsey’s love of photography stems from her background in animal behavior. She received her PhD from the University of California Berkeley in 2016 on the flashing “disco” clam, and did the majority of her research throughout the Indo-Pacific. Her research has been featured in over 50 news stories, including the New York Times, CNN, the Discovery Channel, and National Geographic. She continued her research in her post-doc with the Li Lab at the «Ƶ where she now teaches this course.
Lindsey does as much ocean outreach as possible, having participated in many educational and public programs in California and Colorado. She is a Scientific Advisory Board member for the Ocean First Institute, works with the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, and teaches an annual marine biology course with photography to recreational scuba divers. Lindsey hopes to combine photography, storytelling and science to inspire a love for the ocean in life-long learners across Colorado.