ENSC 3200 Disease Ecology
Disease ecology is designed to provide upper-level undergraduate students with an understanding of the ecological and evolutionary complexity inherent to host-pathogen interactions. The course will draw heavily on case studies representing a diverse array of systems (e.g., plants, animals, aquatic systems, terrestrial systems). Additionally, the course will emphasize the increasing importance of understanding the interactions between multiple hosts and multiple pathogens within complex and dynamic environments. The goal of this course is to introduce students to parasite and pathogen diversity, core concepts in disease ecology (e.g., pathogen population dynamics, transmission, disease models, virulence), host-pathogen coevolution, community ecology of host-pathogen interactions, and the importance of pathogens in conservation and management. The course will use a combination of lectures supplemented with readings from the primary literature, guest lectures by researchers at DUC and beyond, breakout discussion sections, case studies, documentary films, and writing assignments. This course is reading and writing intensive - 4 lecture hours.