Ecology

Educational Process

Ecology is mainly a descriptive and experimental science and it utilizes methods from other disciplines including Math, Statistics, Physiology, and Geology. The study program at IEU, Poland blends lectures with field practice, data collection, and lab research. Ecology students at IEU, Poland assimilate core principles of environmental systems and learn how to apply them to real-world management issues, particularly in the conservation field and in the assessment of human impact in the natural world. The Ecology program provides a solid foundation in the principles of ecology, training in both pure and applied aspects of ecology, and an introduction to economic, legal, and policy issues related to the management of the environment. From the 2nd year on, students increasingly augment the core in ecology and policy with extensive restricted elective choices that allow the student to tailor the program to their interests. The major provides a sound science background for careers in conservation, resource management, ecological consulting, or nature interpretation used in teaching, government, non-government, or the private sector; or for further postgraduate training in fundamental ecology, environmental biology, and environmental management or policy.

After graduating students are able:

• To effectively apply basic principles of the natural and social sciences to current issues of natural resources and the environment;
• To understand and appropriately use the vocabularies of the natural and social sciences relevant to issues of natural resources and the environment;
• To write and speak clearly about technical issues related to their concentration of study in the EES program;
• To work collaboratively with other professionals in the disciplines of the major to address significant policy issues in natural resources and the environment;
• To choose and apply appropriate quantitative tools necessary to analyze significant issues related to their concentration of study in the EES program;
• To evaluate sources of technical information for credibility and relevance for addressing significant issues related to their concentration of study in the EES program;
• To identify significant ethical issues in natural resources and the environment and be able to address these issues in an informed and thoughtful manner;
• To learn basic concepts;
• To learn Auto Ecology and Population Ecology;
• To learn the Dynamics of Population;
• To learn the Ecology of Communities;
• To learn the Functional and Structural Features of Communities;
• To learn Ecosystem and Characteristics;
• To learn the Functional Characteristics of Ecosystems;
• To learn Ecological Cycles, Biological Accumulation;
• To learn about The Great Ecosystems in the World;
• To learn Evolutional Ecology, Natural Selection, and Genetic Variability;
• To learn Life Strategies, Gene Banks;
• To learn Applied Ecology;
• To learn about Ecological Problems of Humanity, Protection of Nature and Biological Variability;
• To learn Economics of Environment and Planning, Sustainable Development;
• To recognize that the distribution of organisms is a product of positive and negative interactions within and across trophic levels, including competition, mutualism, predation, and parasitism;
• To analyze interactions within the context of specific habitats and judge how the habitat shapes the distribution and abundance of species. Key factors that influence the habitat include climate, energy input, spatial/temporal complexity, and resource availability;
• To evaluate the relationships among ecological interactions, habitat context, and the evolution of organism form and function. Distinguish how the evolution of organism form and function influence ecological interactions and habitat tolerance and judge how ecological processes shape the evolution of organism form and function;
• To judge how organism function, habitat context, and interactions within and across trophic levels influence the flow of energy and the movement and recycling of matter in communities and ecosystems;
• To judge how ecological processes across all scales are affected by human activities, and apply basic ecological principles to meet societal resource management and conservation goals;
• To gain experience developing ecological hypotheses and designing observational and experimental studies in chosen field and laboratory settings;
• To gain experience with modeling, data collection techniques, and statistical analysis used to test ecological hypotheses;
• To synthesize information from the primary scientific literature; logically interpret the results of original research in the context of established ecological knowledge;
• To practice written and oral communication skills necessary to communicate research findings and interpretations to policymakers, scientists, stakeholders, and the general public.