1/11/2016 Syllabus for Sp16 ENVS-3600-001

https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/syllabus 1/6

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Course SyllabusCourse: ENVS 3600 (DSC) Living with Wildlife

Credits: 3 Semester taught: Spring 2016 Class time and days: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:30­11:45, ENGR 302 Instructor: Robert Schmidt, Associate Professor, Dept. of Environment and Society

Office: 348 Natural Resources Bldg (NR) Telephone: 435­797­2536 Email: robert.schmidt@usu.edu (mailto:robert.schmidt@usu.edu) Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 9­10; Wednesday 1:30­2:30, or by appointment.

Teaching Assistant: Jessie Bunkley, email: jessie.bunkley@gmail.com (mailto:jessie.bunkley@gmail.com) . Office hours by appointment (BNR 369 ­ not NR).

UTF: Liisa Smith, email: liisa.piiparinen@aggiemail.usu.edu (mailto:liisa.piiparinen@aggiemail.usu.edu) . Office hours by appointment.

Canvas: This course will use Canvas, Sp16 ENVS­3600­001 for some assignments, quizzes, and videos. Please adjust your settings to get daily course updatesand announcements. I will make announcements, assignment reminders, and updates through Canvas.

Course Overview:

Simply stated, Americans have a love affair with wildlife. This is evident from the popularity of wildlife­related entertainment such as zoos, parks, and electronic­based entertainment venues; the economic impacts of wildlife hunting and wildlife viewing; the importance of various wildlife philosophies in local, state, and nationalpolitics; and the volumes of literature dealing with wildlife appreciation, use, and abuse. This course is meant to explore the diversity of attitudes toward wildlife thataffect the development and evolution of wildlife management programs, to discuss threats to biodiversity, and to develop and analyze case histories of contemporaryand controversial wildlife management decisions. Wildlife management happens within the framework of evolution and ecology, and these threads will appearfrequently in lectures and discussions, especially in regards to our discussions about biodiversity and the impacts of human activities on the biosphere. Fundamentally, this course is an attempt to prepare citizens for making informed decisions about wildlife.

ENVS 3600 is designed especially for non­wildlife majors; however, wildlife majors may find it useful to understand the non­biological aspects (the “humandimensions”) of wildlife management. Wildlife tends to be a resource held in trust by governments for the citizenry. Surveys continually demonstrate the interestthat Americans have in their wildlife resources. This course is designed to allow students from all majors to become more comfortable with the terminology, history,management, and societal impacts of wild animals. Films exploring various viewpoints toward wild animals (for example, trapping for fur, animal rights, endangeredspecies management) will be utilized to “bring” wildlife and wildlife issues into the classroom. Guest speakers will be invited who embrace a variety of viewpoints,including managers, administrators, politicians, and environmentalists. Over the semester, efforts will be made to allow for a balance of perspectives.

"Living with Wildlife" is an approved University Studies depth course that builds on the University breadth courses in life sciences, particularly WATS 1200(“Biodiversity: its conservation and future”) and WILD 2200 (“Ecology of our changing world”).

IDEA Objectives include:

Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.Gaining factual knowledge (terminology, classifications, methods, trends).Acquiring an interest in learning more by asking questions and seeking answers.Developing a clearer understanding of, and commitment to, personal values.

Required Texts/Vouchers/Materials:

• Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide To Their Biology, Behavior & Conservation, by James Spotila

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• Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, by Carl Safina

• You are also required to obtain a Utah Hunter Education voucher ($10). You can buy a resident or nonresident HE voucher at any authorized Utah hunting andfishing license dealer.

Optional Text:

• A Primer of Conservation Biology, by Richard Primack (5th edition!) About a third of the course material will come from the material in this text. Earlier editionswill also contain a significant amount of the material as well.

Fee: There is a fee associated with this course to cover material expenses for the hunter education program supplies (not the voucher). The $10 fee coversrequired hearing and eye protection, .22 ammunition for the shooting practice and test, refreshments during the field exercise, and expenses for hunter educationinstructors, range safety officers, and speakers. The fee also will be used to cover expenses for the service­learning project. This fee does NOT include your textsnor the Utah Hunter Education voucher ($10).

Grading: There are a number of key concepts that you need to understand. Since there are over 60,000 species of vertebrate animals, I will use select species asexamples for a number of concepts, and you will be expected to understand aspects of their natural history, anatomy, physiology, behavior, and identification. Youdo need to understand the principles in the text and readings. There will be many opportunities to tell me what you think. You will never lose points for having adifferent view of the world than the instructor. You will lose points for not developing a well­reasoned argument that makes it clear you understand the broaderissues in the various wildlife management controversies, AND connecting what you think and know with the concepts discussed in class and in the readings. Thegrading system will not reward you if you tell me what I think (except for the key concepts... make sure you get those right!). You need to tell me what you think, andwhy. The lectures are intended to complement the readings and films, not repeat them.

The allocation of points toward your final grade is as follows:

Letter Assignment (2): 20 points (10 points each letter) Sea Turtle Quizzes (7): 70 points (10 points each quiz)Exams (3): 60 points (20 points each quiz) Service­Learning project: 20 points S­L Reflection: 5 points Hunter Education program: 20 points HE Reflection: 5 points

FINAL: 50 points

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS: 250 points

PLEASE KEEP TRACK OF YOUR SCORES! I’m always asked about current grades. It depends on the many graded activities listed above. Just count them up! You should be able to track your grades in Canvas.

Grading will be determined on the following scale:

A 93 to 100% A­ 90 to 93 B+ 87 to 90 B 83 to 87 B­ 80 to 83 C+ 77 to 80

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C 73 to 77 C­ 70 to 73 D+ 67 to 70 D 60 to 67 F 0 to 60

Service­Learning Project: Service­learning is an educational experience for students that meets community needs while assisting students with gaining a betterunderstanding of the course content. It puts the course content into perspective in ways that cannot be accomplished in the classroom.

This semester ENVS 3600 students will focus their efforts on urban deer. Some communities in Cache Valley have initiated an aggressive deer control program(http://goo.gl/PCEjDX (http://goo.gl/PCEjDX) ). Others have decided not to (http://goo.gl/wkakNh (http://goo.gl/wkakNh) ). Logan is considering a deermanagement program. We will develop information of value to the city regarding the abundance and distribution of urban deer. Facebook:www.facebook.com/deerinlogan (http://www.facebook.com/deerinlogan) .

You will also have to reflect on the service­learning experience. In your project reflections, think of discussing these issues: What? So what? And now what? Whatdid you do, and why? What was the relevance, utility, and importance of this project? How will this affect your future interactions with people and wildlife?

The point of this activity is to have you learn more about urban wildlife, to learn about deer, and to recognize that urban wildlife management is an active, not apassive process.

Quizzes and Exams: The exams will cover material discussed since the previous exam, but be prepared for integrating those key concepts throughout thesemester. The final will focus on material covered over the entire semester. In particular, look for those key concepts repeated over and over during lectures, andthese exams will cover readings, discussions, and audio­visual material. Exams will be administered on Canvas. The quizzes will focus on sea turtles. The final willusing a full page Scantron form (available at the USU Bookstore).

Writing assignments: The writing assignments will take the form of a professionally constructed letter, on topics to be announced during the semester. Professionalism counts here, so make sure you double­check your spelling and sentence construction. I expect these assignments to be thoughtful, andapproximately 700 words in length. And since these are professional quality letters, you will lose 50% of the points if you either 1) misspell the recipients name, or2) fail to sign your letter.

Hunter Education Program: You are required to go through all the training for the Utah Hunter Education (HE) program unless you have completed it after 1January 2015 (certification card required). This doesn’t have to be the HE course associated with this class (other internet courses scheduled are listed athttps://dwrapps.utah.gov/EdClassList/TheClasses?class=HE&type=INTERNET (https://dwrapps.utah.gov/EdClassList/TheClasses?class=HE&type=INTERNET)

). Most of the Hunter Education program will be a homework assignment, since the classroom portion is web­based:http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/huntereducation/173­hunter­education­basic­course­online.html (http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/huntereducation/173­hunter­

education­basic­course­online.html) . There will be a field day as described on the website. You are required to pass the state­approved written test required for thiscourse. Successful completion of the Hunter Education program requires a firearms competency test (.22 rifle). Rifles with scopes will be provided. I

will not require any student to shoot a firearm against their will. However, your attendance at the shooting clinic is still required.

Steps for HE student:

1. Obtain a Hunter Education voucher for the course at any DWR office or license agent ($10).2. Sign up for a HE field day through me: March 18, 19, or 20th. The signups will be provided the 3rd week of the semester, although you can participate

elsewhere (sign up well in advance, and let us know).3. Bring the voucher to the Hunter Education field day. You will not be able to participate without it.

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4. Upon successful completion of the course, you will have a validated small game license, and have free access to the pistol and rifle ranges (not the shotgunrange) for one year.

5. The Hunter Education card, commonly known as the "blue card," will be mailed to you at the address provided on the voucher (so double­check this address!).6. Let me know if you are taking the course with an instructor outside of this class. You will need to provide me with a copy of your validated HE voucher.

You will probably need to provide your own ammo and ear and eye protection, and you will need to give this instructor your on­line quizzes.7. There are online assignments that need to be completed prior to the field day. You can find these in the Canvas assignments.

Questions about Grading? It is important that we maintain communication during the semester. On rare occasions I make mistakes while recording grades. Keeptrack of your grades, keep your graded assignments, and alert me to any discrepancies. Further, if you feel at any time that there are any problems that we need toaddress, please communicate these. It is always better to talk through any problems when they arise! And you need to turn in your assignments on time. Lateassignments go down one letter grade for each 24­hour period they are late, beginning the minute after they are due (always beginning of class).

Final Exam Date: May 5, 9:30­11:20 (Thursday)

Field Trip: There will be a required field day for the Hunter Education program (March 18, 19, or 20). You need to arrange your schedule in advance to make roomfor this assignment. The deer project may also require you to travel in Logan.

Missed Quizzes and other Assignments: This course is designed to keep you up to date on the material under discussion. If you fall behind or fail to attendclass, you will not have the material to integrate into future discussions and exams. Your participation is required for the Hunter Education tests and fieldassignments and the service­learning project. I cannot provide you with alternatives to make up these missed assignments. And, as noted above, late assignmentsgo down one letter grade for each 24­hour period they are late, beginning the minute after they are due.

Extra Credit: The extra credit in this course is limited to the extra credit assignments (discussed as the course progresses). Some of these assignments will beyour attendance at other lectures and seminars on related topics, or completion of on­line projects. Individual extra credit projects are not possible.

Recorders, calculators, and etceteras: Please, no recording or complex calculators, computers, or cell phones during exams. Turn off cell phones prior to class;repeated abuse of this policy will result in students being requested to leave the classroom. Also, students have told me that they are sometimes irritated by otherstudents web­surfing during class. Please, if you plan on doing anything more than taking notes on your computer, please sit in the last row.

E­mail: Check it regularly, as I will distribute course material and assignment reminders over e­mail and through Canvas. NOTE: I do not accept any assignmentssent to me via email, without prior permission. Plan accordingly. They won’t be opened.

Academic Integrity: To enhance the learning environment at Utah State University and to develop student academic integrity, each student agrees to the followingHonor Pledge: “I pledge, on my honor, to conduct myself with the foremost level of academic integrity.” I expect all students to uphold this pledge. More informationcan be obtained about academic integrity at http://www.usu.edu/studentservices/studentcode/article6.cfm(http://www.usu.edu/studentservices/studentcode/article6.cfm) . Cheating, falsification, or plagiarism will not be tolerated. If it occurs in this course, the first violationwill result in the student receiving zero points for the assignment. The second violation will result in a failing grade for the course. All violations will be reported tothe Vice President of Student Services Office.

The online Academic Integrity Violation Form (AIVF) (http://www.usu.edu/studentconduct/aiv/aivform.cfm) provides guidance to instructors and students,ensures minimum due process requirements are met, and allows tracking of repeat offenders at the University level. The AIVF is available online(http://www.usu.edu/studentconduct/aiv/aivform.cfm) through the Student Services website. Once an instructor has determined that an academic violation hasoccurred and that a sanction is appropriate, an AIVF must be submitted prior to application of the sanction. The student may appeal the determination that anacademic violation occurred if the AIVF is not filed. All submitted AIVF forms are kept in the Vice President of Student Services Office for the duration of the

student’s academic career at Utah State University.

Accommodations for Disabilities: Students with ADA­documented physical, sensory, emotional or medical impairments may be eligible for reasonableaccommodations. Veterans may also be eligible for services. All accommodations are coordinated through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) in Room 101 of theUniversity Inn, (435)797­2444 voice, (435)797­0740 TTY, (435)797­2444 VP, or toll free at 1­800­259­2966. Please contact the DRC as early in the semester aspossible. Alternate format materials (Braille, large print or digital) are available with advance notice. Please let Robert know the first week of class if you have anyspecial needs. You can find more information about the DRC at http://www.usu.edu/drc/ (http://www.usu.edu/drc/) .

ENVS 3600.2016 ­ Schedule of topics and assignments

The expectation is that you have read the assignments prior to attending the lecture (except for the first lecture). There may be occasions when readings and topics

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Date Details

Thu Apr 2, 2015 Quiz 3 on Canvas (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979796) due by 11:59pm

Thu Apr 16, 2015 Quiz 4 on Canvas (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979799) due by 11:59pm

Thu Apr 30, 2015 Final on Canvas (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979800) due by 12:01pm

Wed May 27, 2015 General Exam 1 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979802) due by 11:59pm

Tue Jun 2, 2015 Coyote Hunting in Utah (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979808) due by 12:01pm

Mon Jun 15, 2015 General Exam 2 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979795) due by 11:59pm

Thu Jun 18, 2015 Bison sex identification (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979805) due by 12pm

Thu Jun 25, 2015 Recycling and wildlife (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979828) due by 4pm

Fri Jun 26, 2015 Recycling reflection (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979829) due by 4pm

General Exam 3 ­ Final (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979797) due by 11:59pm

Thu Jan 21, 2016 HE risk form (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979815) due by

10:30pm

Quiz 1 Sea Turtles Module 1 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979804) due by

11:59pm

Sea turtles overview and hawksbills

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979834)

due by

11:59pm

Fri Jan 29, 2016 General Exam 1 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979810) due by 11:59pm

Thu Feb 4, 2016 Quiz 2 Sea Turtle Module 2 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979801) due by

11:59pm

Sea turtle life cycle, green turtles

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979833)

due by

11:59pm

Thu Feb 11, 2016 Reading: Beyond Words ­ Part 1

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979827)

due by

10:30am

Thu Feb 18, 2016 Letter Assignment 1 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979820) due by 10:30am

Tue Feb 23, 2016 HE online quizes (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979813) due by 10:30am

Quiz 3 Sea Turtle module 3 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979793) due by 11:59pm

Sea turtle biology (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979831) due by 11:59pm

Thu Feb 25, 2016 Reading: Beyond Words ­ Part 2

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1993851)

due by

10:30am

Fri Feb 26, 2016 General Exam 2 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979811) due by 11:59pm

Tue Mar 15, 2016 Quiz 4 Sea Turtle Module 4 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979798) due by 11:59pm

Sea turtle history; olive ridleys

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979832)

due by 11:59pm

Sun Mar 20, 2016 Hunter Education Field Day (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979816) due by 5pm

Tue Mar 29, 2016 Kemp's Ridleys and Loggerheads

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979817)

due by

11:59pm

Quiz 5 Sea Turtles Module 5 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979792) due by

11:59pm

will have to be shuffled. In addition, my travel obligations may require some modification of this schedule. Regardless, I will not ask you to turn in any assignmentsprior to the dates noted.

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Thu Mar 31, 2016 HE reflection (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979814) due by

10:30am

Reading: Beyond Words ­ Part 3

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1994070)

due by

10:30am

Fri Apr 1, 2016 General Exam 3 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1986787) due by 11:59pm

Tue Apr 12, 2016 Flatbacks and Leatherbacks (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979809) due by 11:59pm

Quiz 6 Sea Turtle Module 6 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979794) due by 11:59pm

Thu Apr 21, 2016 Letter Assignment 2 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1994249) due by

10:30am

Conservation: an uncertain future

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979807)

due by

11:59pm

Quiz 7 Sea Turtle Module 7 (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979803) due by

11:59pm

Thu Apr 28, 2016 Reading: Beyond Words ­ Part 4

(https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1994081)

due by

10:30am

Thu May 5, 2016 Final (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979812) due by 9:30am

Extra credit book donation(s) (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979806) due by 1pm

Lecture notes (https://usu.instructure.com/courses/391914/assignments/1979819)