Introduction and Overview

LIFS 4301 Conservation Biology September 3rd 2013

Instructors
Name Prof Qinglu ZENG (Course Coordinator) Prof Stanley LAU Dr Cindy Lam Room Telephone Email 5515 5440 3486 2358 8701 zeng@ust.hk 2358 7329 scklau@ust.hk 2358 6075 envscindy@ust.hk

Textbook
Conservation Biology for All has been generously made available here: http://www.conbio.org/publications/free-textbook

Course Format
Two 80-minute lectures (with discussions) per week 16:30-17:20 Lecture 17:30-17:50 Tutorial The 20 min tutorial session will be used for discussion or to watch relevant videos. The contents of the videos will NOT be covered in the examinations.

Field trip
A special visit to the Ocean Park backhouse facilities at Grand Aquarium and Jellyfish Aquarium. Move October 31st (Thursday) class to November 2nd (Saturday) from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon.

Course Assessment
Midterm Examination (35%) Final Examination (35%) Group Project (25%) Other (attendance and discussion performance) (5%)

Examinations
Videos, guest lectures and the field trip will NOT be in the examinations. NO make-up exam NO cheating

Group project presentation

Person in the same group will write a report together. Each person will present part (~5 min) of the group project, followed by questions from the audience. Performance will be graded by both instructors and students. The report grade of the same group will be the same, but the personal performance grades will be different.

You are expected to

Be on time. Show up in the class. Participate in discussion. Ask questions during the lecture. Give suggestions to the instructors. Check the Learning Management and Evaluation System (LMES).

Why is conservation biology important?

Conservation Biology
Increasing human population size and consumption per person have precipitated an extinction crisis the sixth mass extinction.

Conservation Biology
Increasing human population size and consumption per person have precipitated an extinction crisis the sixth mass extinction.

Conservation Biology
The size of the human population is approaching 7 billion people, and its most fundamental connection with conservation is simple: people compete with other animals, which unlike green plants cannot make their own food.

Conservation Biology
I=PAT (I)Impact on biodiversity (P) Population size (A)Affluence measured as per capita consumption (T) Factor which summarizes the technologies and sociopoliticaleconomic arrangements to service that consumption.

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kaeyr5-O2eU