Spring 2009

SCIE 620
Life Among Snow and Ice

Hammerson,Geoffrey

03/09/2009 - 03/13/2009
Monday-Friday 08:00 AM - 04:00 PM

Science Tower 137


Special Schedule: One-week immersion March 9 - March 13

This one-week immersion course focuses on how plants and animals deal with snow, ice, and freezing temperatures, including examples from arctic, antarctic, alpine, and winter temperate-zone environments. Specific topics include the physical characteristics of snow and ice; the roles of snow and ice as stressors, buffers, and habitats; anatomical, physiological, and behavioral responses to subfreezing temperatures, including cellular and cardiovascular changes, insulation, supercooling, and hibernation; effects of snow and ice on the timing of life cycles; arctic-alpine biogeography; and the implications of climate change on the life histories and conservation status of cold-adapted animals and plants. Organisms to be discussed range from snow algae, iceworms, and heat-producing plants to frozen frogs, penguins, and polar bears.

This course is not open to auditors.

A syllabus for this course is available at:
SCIE 620


Geoffrey Hammerson (B.S. University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D. University of Colorado, Boulder) is a research zoologist at NatureServe and is author of more than 70 reports and publications, most recently, The status of the world's land and marine mammals: Diversity, Threat and Knowledge . (Science, 2008). Click here to read an article about Geoff and his GLS courses.

ENROLLMENT INFORMATION

Consent of Instructor Required: No

Format: Seminar

Level: GLSP Credits: 3 Enrollment Limit: 18

Texts to purchase for this course:
INSTRUCTOR HAS NOT YET ORDERED ANY TEXTS FOR THIS COURSE

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