Teaching

Faculty, staff and students of the SEL are committed to education at all levels. We do our best to keep up with advances in modern teaching methods in the environmental sciences and are strong advocates of trans-disciplinary problem based learning, teaching evaluation and mentoring both in the field and in the lab. Some of the courses we teach at UTEP include:

Graduate Classes at UTEP

Undergraduate Classes at UTEP

Other Educational Opportunities

Outreach

Graduate Classes at UTEP:

ESE 6404/ESCI 5401 Environmental Biology (usually taught in the Spring).

• This course examines the relationship between the biological and physical environment. Topics include organismal biology, ecology, biogeochemical cycling, technology and environmental biology and current research themes and priorities in environmental biology. Prerequisites: Enrollment in the MS program in Environmental Science, the PhD program in the Environmental Science and Engineering program or permission of the program director and one semester of course work in introductory biology.

BIOL 5327 Advances in Ecological Theory (Fall 2008). (Fall 2008).

• This course will explore multiple uses of technology in ecology and the environmental sciences, including sensors, data loggers, relational databases, Geographic Information Systems, robotics, and web based information systems and world data centers. Students will learn the pros and cons of utilizing technology, data archives and information systems to advance their chosen field of research.

Undergraduate Classes at UTEP:

BIOL 1306 Organismal Biology (taught in some Fall semesters).

• This course examines the principles of structure and function at the organismal level whilst exploring the biodiversity of plants, animals, fungi and other forms of biota. Students who take this course will improve their foundational knowledge and problem solving capacities in organismal biology.

Other Educational Opportunities:

Online Clases:

• The IPY-ROAM online class through UT Tele campus in Fall 2007 prepared students for a field-based learning experience in southern Tierra Del Fuego and Antarctica has been our ultimate field based teaching program in recent years. This course was lead by Dr Vanessa Lougheed in the Department of Biology at UTEP.

Special Topics and Independent Studies Projects:

• We supervise special topics classes in a range of departments and programs at UTEP. These provide students at both the undergraduate and graduate level an excellent opportunity for to explore research areas and technologies that could benefit more specialized research applications in the future. Please contact Dr Craig Tweedie for more information if you are interested in taking on an independent studies project in SEL.

Mentoring:

• SEL faculty, postdocs, staff and grad students mentor senior design projects in Computer Science, and Mechanical and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Checkout some of the cool projects have worked on in recent years.

• We also mentor students who work on our research projects in the lab and in the field. If you are interested in working in SEL, please contact Dr Craig Tweedie.

 Outreach:

• We welcome the opportunity to conduct outreach activities in schools and any other governmental or non-governmental organizations interested in our research and educational activities. We also welcome media to contact us for interviews regarding our latest researh findings.