Global Change Biology (BIOL 246) is one of the major courses of the revised curriculum of the MS Biology program approved in March 2020. BIOL 246 is a 3-credit unit graduate course that will examine the key drivers of global environmental change and how it impacts the biological systems across many scales – from the level of individual, organism, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Global change biology is any consistent trend in the environment– past, present, or projected – that affects a substantial part of the globe and promotes planetary-scale changes in earth systems. Therefore, this global change science is a highly multidisciplinary approach, involving physical scientists who study climate, the oceans, the atmosphere, and geology, as well as biologists investigating physiology, evolution, and ecology. Emphasis will be placed on the key drivers of global change, impact on ecosystems and human society, and mitigation efforts to lessen the effects of global change. The role that managers, policymakers, and researchers can play in responding to global change will be covered. This course is global in scope, with examples from both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. However, there is an emphasis on Philippine ecosystems and biota.
A research project will be done by students, enabling them to design a study that investigates the specific driver of global change (e.g., eutrophication, land-use changes, pollution, habitat fragmentation, invasive alien species, etc.) and its impact on biological systems. Supplementary activities will be given that involve the role of modeling and uncertainty in climate predictions. The course will conclude with a short section on effective communication of global change science to colleagues, the general public, and decision-makers (managers/politicians).
- Teacher: Archie Along