A Quick Outline of the Courses I Teach, or Have Taught Suggestions for student job-seeking |
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The official website of the Australian Football League
Sinauer Associates, Publishers. Sunderland, MA
The Coastal Ecosystem Research Foundation (CERF)
Daryl Cagle's editorial-cartoon page
I am officially
a Lecturer in the Zoology
Department at UBC, but my
teaching in first-year biology places me also in the Biology Programme, which is an integrated cross-departmental unit.
The following items show the
various ways of contacting me:
E-mail
address
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Web
address
http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~bio310 |
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Office
phone
604 822 9257 |
Office
fax
604 822 2416 |
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(24 hr voicemail; outgoing message updated regularly) |
(machine serving many people, be sure to use a cover page!) |
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Office location
(best to
telephone first)
Biological Sciences
Building, rm. 1354 (bottom floor of the South Wing
near the Zoolab computer facility) |
Mailing
address
Department of Zoology, UBC 6270 University Boulevard Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4 Canada |
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At any time of year, the best way to determine my day-to-day
availability is by listening to my voicemail message.
My availability for the period 14 December – 7 January will be strictly
limited, and cannot be predicted in detail ahead of time. Check the voicemail message.
Here is the complete schedule-chart describing my Term 2 availability (period commencing
8 January 2007). Note that this chart does not come into effect until
Monday 8 January.
TIME |
Monday |
Tuesday
|
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
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|
|
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0900 |
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|
|
|
|
0930 |
|
|
|
|
|
1000 |
Biology
310 |
Biology 302
|
Biology
310 |
Biology 302
|
Biology 310
|
1030 |
Lecture |
office hour |
Lecture |
office hour |
Lecture |
1100 |
|
Biology 302 |
Biology |
Biology 302 |
office |
1130 |
|
section 202 |
310 |
section 202 |
hours |
1200 |
|
Lecture |
office |
Lecture |
for |
1230 |
|
Biology 302
|
hours |
Biology 302
|
anyone |
1300 |
|
office hour |
|
office hour |
|
1330 |
|
|
|
|
|
1400 |
|
Biology
|
|
|
|
1430 |
|
140 |
Biology 310 |
Biology 310 |
Biology 310 |
1500 |
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Elective |
Tutorial |
Tutorial |
Tutorial |
1530 |
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Meeting |
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|
|
1600 |
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(March-April |
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|
|
1630 |
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only) |
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|
|
1700 |
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|
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|
1730 |
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Ø
January 2007: Biology 310, and Winter Session
Biology 302
Ø
March/April 2007: Biology 140 Lab Elective (details
TBA)
I was born and raised in Vancouver, and began my education at Lord Kitchener Elementary School. After graduating from Lord Byng High School, I began study as a Science undergraduate student at UBC, eventually deciding to major in Zoology (under our current Majors, this classification would most nearly parallel “Animal Biology + Ecology and Evolutionary Biology”). Although I did not undertake Honours undergraduate research work, I was able to complete research projects in animal behaviour at both the third- and fourth-year levels.
My interest in research having
been piqued, I applied to and was accepted at UBC’s Zoology Department as a
Master’s-degree candidate, in the laboratory of Dr. N.R. Liley, working on the
development and expression of escape behaviour in the Trinidadian guppy Poecilia
reticulata. In addition to carrying out the research work itself, I was
able to engage in laboratory (first-year biology) and tutorial (third-year
animal behaviour) teaching.
After the completion of my M.Sc.,
I spent two years during which I wrote papers based on the M.Sc. thesis for
publication, traveled widely in the South Pacific and in Europe, and
investigated potential sites for Ph.D. studies. I was fortunate enough to be
offered a doctoral-studies position at the Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia,
to which I relocated in 1986. Under the supervision of Dr. C.A. Lill, I
undertook a five-year field study of reproductive investment, parental care,
and mating system of the Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys, a native
Australian woodland songbird. Once again, I had the opportunity to engage in
teaching: in first-year biology laboratories; in second-year psychology
laboratories; supervising third-year behavioural-ecology projects; and as a
residential tutor in Mannix College, a hall of residence
adjacent to the university campus.
These varied instructional experiences confirmed my strong interest in teaching, and I determined to seek a career path emphasizing teaching over research. Returning to Canada before completion of the written Ph.D. thesis (degree granted 1994), I began teaching at UBC in 1992, initially in Summer Session assignments and subsequently year-round.
Biology 121 –
Ecology, Genetics, & Evolution. Lecture course covering community and population
ecology, basic genetics, and introductory evolutionary biology, and featuring
problem-solving, experimental design, and other points according to lecturer
preference.
Biology 140 –
Laboratory Investigation in the Life Sciences. Elective component:
most recently, small-group discussions based on bioethics; formerly, topics
covered have included life on other planets, and the ecology, physiology, and
behaviour of dinosaurs.
Biology 302 –
Community & Ecosystem Biology. Lecture course with tutorial discussions
(Winter Session; in the Summer Session only, a field work component is added).
Should be taken after completion of Biology 303 (see below). Covers
community structure, disturbance and recovery of systems, energy-flow and
nutrient-cycling, biogeography and conservation biology, pest control, and
human impacts on ecosystems (pollution, deforestation, etc.).
Biology 303 –
Population Biology. Lecture course with tutorial discussions (Winter
Session; in the Summer Session only, a field work component is added).
Should be taken before taking Biology 302 (see above). Covers evolution,
population structure, growth, and regulation, life-history theory, predation
(and harvesting theory), and competition.
Biology 310 –
Introduction to Animal Behaviour. Lecture course with tutorial discussions
and a major individual research project. Covers practical measurement and
quantification of behaviour, experimental design, data analysis, assessment of
literature, evolution of behaviour, learning and instinct, sensory systems,
control of movement, foraging, social behaviour, and breeding and parental-care
behaviour.
Biology 448 –
Directed Studies in Biology. Research course, topic and approach determined
by negotiation between student and supervisor. May involve lab or field work on
live organisms, analysis of data collected by third parties, library research
(critical review of relevant literature), or a combination; evaluated with a
paper and/or research talk. Recent topics include: household-level grey-water
recycling, self-thinning in plants, and population estimates of
photo-identified whales.
Biology 449 – Thesis
Research in Biology. Honours designation. I have supervised one student
(studying home-range size in ground-squirrels in the Yukon), and have evaluated
several others as an examiner.
Gardening
and garden design – I was raised by parents and
grandparents who were all gardeners, and have for many years been a member at
UBC’s Botanical Garden (http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/). I maintain a suburban garden and enjoy raising unusual plants, some
from near-subtropical climates, as well as fruits, vegetables, and a wide range
of shrubs, small trees, and herbaceous perennial plants.
History
& Linguistics – I have a theory: anyone
interested in evolutionary biology should be naturally interested in history in
general, and in language. Just as we cannot really understand biology without
evolution, it seems difficult to fathom current affairs without an appreciation
of their historical context. Similarly, if one appreciates the adaptations of
organisms, their speciation, and their extinction, one should also appreciate
the way words and languages have changed over time.
Bioethics and other issues in
the philosophy of science – no amount of technical expertise can replace a
knowledge of how science is done, how it affects other aspects of society, and
why some fields of research require special oversight and vigilance. I feel
that anyone trained as a scientist has a responsibility to think about, and be
prepared to inform the public on, ethically significant issues within her/his
area of expertise.
You may be interested to check out my page with suggestions and tips for
the job-oriented student here. Please don’t assume that this
page will contain everything you’d need – you should try to benefit from the
experience of as many people as possible.
You can also click on the Noticeboard link in the menu at left for specific opportunities.
Last revised: 7 December 2006