Don't you all think it is high time we had a text book for a course like this called why pre-health students should study ecology and evolution? We could cover every major topic taught in intro ecology and evolution courses using medical examples--human microbiome, evolution of resistance, biodiversity and human public health...why hasn't anyone written this book?
Lyme disease and malaria would be great case studies for such a book RBurke -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Emily Moran Sent: Monday, February 1, 2016 8:03 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] promoting Ecology course If the question is "how do we get more students to see ecology as an interesting career path" rather than "how to we get premeds to take ecology classes", the key seems to be to expose them to interesting uses of ecology and interesting ecological careers as early as possible. In most schools, the kids who come in wanting to major in biology tend to say they are pre-med, in part because that is the only biology-related career they are aware of. One thing we're trying at UCM is to have ladder-rank faculty give guest lectures in the intro bio class - along with delivering the basic material, we get the chance to tell students a little about our research and have the option of talking about how they can get involved in research, other classes they might consider if they like the ecology/evolution section of bio 1, or career paths. It is too early yet to see if it is having much effect in recruiting students to the EEB track or environmental sciences major, but I know I got some good questions from students about options for including plant-related stuff in their educational and career trajectory. Involving students in research and hands on projects in their freshman or sophomore year can also be a great way to stoke their interest in biology outside of a clinical setting. Emily Moran UC Merced > > > On 2/1/16, 11:23 AM, "Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, > news on behalf of Kay Shenoy" <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU on behalf of > kay.yellowt...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Does anybody have ideas on how to promote Ecology among Biology >> undergraduates? We are finding that Biology majors are increasingly >> focused on health-care fields; many students consider Ecology >> ³unimportant² for their future careers, and it is not addressed in >> the MCAT exams, so they give it a low priority. How does one increase >> enrollment in Ecology courses, and particularly in schools that do >> not have dedicated Ecology departments? Any thoughts would be welcome!
