Each semester, a few "special topics" courses are offered through our department. These are undergraduate- or graduate-level courses that are not currently listed in the course catalog.

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SUMMER 2012

BIOL 495/695: Arctic Vegetation Ecology, Excursion (2 credits)
Instructors: Prof. D.A. (Skip) Walker, Dr. Martha Raynolds, Dr. Amy Breen
Office: 262 Arctic Health Research Building
Phone: 474-2460
Email: dawalker@alaska

This 15-day, 2 credit course will be taught at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Toolik Field Station and various remote localities in northern Alaska June 7-20, 2012. The course is limited to ten finishing undergraduate or graduate students. The cost of food, lodging and travel between the field sites is included in the course fee, and students are expected to pay for their travel to Fairbanks, Alaska. The students will need to bring all-weather clothing including winter jackets and rubber boots, a warm sleeping bag, and preferably a tent.

The excursion will follow the Elliott and Dalton Highways in northern Alaska, focusing on the vegetation and Arctic ecosystems north of the Brooks Range with emphasis in the Galbraith, Toolik Lake, Happy Valley, and Prudhoe Bay areas. We will use an interdisciplinary approach to examine vegetation, soils, permafrost, geology, land-use and climate-change issues. We will visit a wide variety of habitats and settings along the climate gradient and learn the methods of vegetation, soil, and environmental sampling required for vegetation analysis. The course is appropriate for vegetation scientists and botanists, as well as students interested in an overview of the Arctic, its ecosystems, and its role in contemporary discussions of climate change and rapid land-use change. More information at www.geobotany.uaf.edu/teaching/biol495.

Prerequisites: BIOL 115 and 116, Introduction to Plant Biology (BIOL 239) or Principles of Ecology (BIOL 271) or instructor approval.