On a piece of paper write down:

• Name• Your university• What background do you have in either

marine biology or animal behavior?• What is something you hope to learn in this

class? (e.g. specific interactions you are interested in, topics that interest you?)

Marine Behavioral Ecology

Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Hill

Classroom Introductions

• Name• Your university• What background do you have in either

marine biology or animal behavior?• What is something you hope to learn in this

class? (e.g. specific interactions you are interested in, topics that interest you?)

My background• Undergraduate Marine

Biology Major• PhD in biology and marine

ecology– Rocky intertidal systems of

New England– REU in Hawaii- coral reefs– Oyster reefs on Atlantic coasts– Seagrass Beds on the Gulf

Coast of AL and FL– New Zealand- Rocky subtidal

My research

• Examine the role of animal behavior, predator-prey interactions, and environmental context (habitat structure, turbidity, flow/turbulence) affect communities

• My goal is to help manage and restore anthropogenically impacted marine communities

Learning Objectives

• Learn to recognize different types of animal behavior

• Understand evolutionary and ecological significance of these behaviors

Learning Objectives

• Be able to design experiments to test hypothesis about animal behavior

• Classroom exercises or group work/ Labs

Learning Objectives

• Learn how to observe and quantify behaviors in the lab and field

Learning Objectives

• Understand how to apply behavior to a conservation context

Textbook

• An Introduction to Behavioral Ecology– Davies, Krebs, West (4th edition-2012)

• Also expect some readings from scientific journals

Earning your final grade…

• Midterm 30%• Final 30%• Classroom, Lab, and Field Exercises 25%– 10% of this grade is your lab notebook

• Participation 15%

Class Participation

This class requires you to learn a lot of information over a short period of time and a large percentage of your grade is based on your participation in lab, field, and group activities. Therefore, your attendance and participation in class is necessary to maintain your grade in this class. Absences will result in a failing grade in this class.

Group Work• We will perform group work during classroom exercises, labs,

and field work. Unless, otherwise noted, each you are expected to turn in independent work (i.e. lab ?s, worksheets etc). Although group work will result in similar ideas and conclusions about topics, your assignments should be written in your own words. Verbatim copies (or too similar copies) of lab reports or other assignments will result in a ZERO on the assignment for both parties.

Labs

• Each Wednesday we will perform a short lab. These labs are designed to give you experience in monitoring and measuring animal behavior as well as performing experiments.

• Due to time constraints, we will compile, graph, and discuss most lab results as a class

• We will not have formal lab reports, but you will be required to keep a lab notebook detailing your results/observations and each lab contains a set of questions that must be turned in by the end of the week.

Lab Notebooks

• All students are required to keep a written record of all laboratory and field activities, observations, and data.

• All pages should be numbered and a "Table of Contents" page should appear at the beginning of the journal.

• Notes and data on exercises should appear legibly and in the order in which they were performed in class.

• It is in your journal that you will keep hand written notes, raw data and data tables, etc. of observations or data collected for each exercise.

• Each student should make a diligent effort to keep these notes individually even though we will be working in groups.

• Always bring your lab notebooks to class, and keep them up to date!• I reserve the right to collect them at any moment for a “pop” grade

Field Trip

• 3rd or 4th Wednesday (weather depending) we will take a field trip over to Perdido Key, FL.– Practice making behavioral observations in situ

• difficulties of monitoring field animal behavior

• You will need– Mask, snorkel, fins (optional) and water shoes/dive

booties– Towel, sunscreen, bug spray, water bottle, snacks, hat

(i.e. all things to prep for being outside in the sun all day)

Lab Notebooks• On the field trip, give basic recordings of the conditions when

in the field. For example, • Date: Time:

– Weather: (e.g., warm, overcast, light rain, slight breeze)– Tide: (high, low, ebb, flood, neap, spring )– Seas: (high seas, choppy, calm, etc.)– Habitat: (Juncus marsh, Spartina marsh, sand flat, mud flat, jetty,

beach, etc.)– Observed Subject: (common name or species name, individual i.d.

etc.) – Observation Start Time:– Observation Stop Time:– Miscellaneous: (anything you feel pertinent not covered in above

categories)

Late Assignments/Missed Exams• Any assignment turned in late will automatically receive a 10

point deduction for being late and another 10 point deduction for every 24 hrs the assignment is not turned in. (e.g., 0.10-24 hrs late-10pts; 24-48hrs late-20pts etc). Exams that are missed will result in a zero. Makeup exams are only provided on an emergency basis (i.e. medical and family) and will only be provided only at the discretion of the instructor.

Technology• I prefer that laptops are not used during class because their use for games

and internet often distracts students. However, I will allow laptops to take notes and explore topics in further detail. Please recognize that the use of laptops to check social networking accounts or message others (or anything not class related) is extremely distracting to yourself and other students sitting behind you. The instructor reserves the right to periodically check to make sure laptops are only used for classroom activities and/or to ban them from class entirely if they become a distraction.

• Cell phones and tablets are strictly prohibited during class and should remain out of sight with the volume mode on silent (without prior consent of the instructor). The use of laptops for anything other than class work, or the use of a cell phone or tablet will result in a 10 pt deduction from your daily participation grade per incident.

Cheating• Cheating will not be tolerated and any incidences will result in

a zero on the assignment and potentially an F in the class. Copying someone else’s assignment IS cheating. Cheating will be reported to DISL and each student’s home institution to be dealt with according to the institution rules and regulations.

How to get an “A”

• BE HERE! • Turn in your assignments on time • Speak up and interact!• Participate and take good notes during labs• Prepare for exams (Duh!)

I can’t sit here and stay awake any longer!

• Grab a peppermint or cinnamon candy (provided)

• Stand up and go to the back of the room• A group agreement for a break (raise your

hand)