Current Topics in Biology: Sptl Data Anlys Ecology

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Manipulate and visualize geospatial data using R and RStudio.
• Understand and apply spatial referencing, coordinate systems, and map projections.
• Perform spatial operations with vector data (e.g., overlays, joins, buffers).
• Work with raster datasets to extract and summarize environmental variables.
• Integrate ecological observations with environmental layers to explore species-habitat relationships.
• Use Git and GitHub for version control and reproducible analysis workflows.

Course Grading Information:

Undergraduate (BIO449)

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
In-class activity report	80%
Exam (2 exams)	10% x 2 = 20%

Graduate (BIO 648)

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
In-class activity report	60%
Exam (2 exams)	15% x 2 = 30%
Mentoring	10%

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
>= 93%	A
90 to < 93%	A-
87 to < 90%	B+
83 to < 87%	B
80 to < 83%	B-
77 to < 80%	C+
73 to < 77%	C
70 to < 73%	C-
67 to < 70%	D+
63 to < 67%	D
60 to < 63%	D-
< 60%	F

Attendance/Participation:

After each class, students will be required to submit your R products. This will be considered as Attendance for this course. As such, attendance will affect final course grade through the “in-class activity report.”

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

No course materials are required.