MAOK4140 Applied Wildlife Ecology
- Course codeMAOK4140
- Number of credits15
- Teaching semester2025 Spring
- Language of instructionEnglish
- CampusEvenstad
- Required prerequisite knowledge
Recommended: The following courses of the master in applied ecology or equivalent courses from other universities:6EV310 Concepts in ecology; 6EV311 Study design and statistical modelling.
The course will provide students with practical training in conducting field-based wildlife research during a three month long stay in Nepal. Through group exercises, the students will take part in the whole scientific process, from planning and designing studies, collecting- analyzing- and interpreting data, to producing scientific reports. Central research topics are (i) behavioral ecology (e.g. studying foraging- and antipredator behavior of grassland ungulates), (ii) population ecology (e.g. learning techniques for surveying abundance and distribution of large carnivores, ungulates, small mammals and birds), (iii) community ecology (e.g. investigate species interactions by using camera traps) and (iv) human-wildlife conflicts (e.g. conducting questionnaire surveys to assess impact of large carnivores on livestock herders).
Learning Outcome
A student with fulfilled qualifications will have the following learning outcome:
Student
- has a good understanding of the process of planning and conducting wildlife research, from study design to data collection, analyses and reporting
- has gained insight into central issues in wildlife ecology, management and conservation through practical exercises
Student
- is able to design and conduct wildlife monitoring using a variety of practical and analytical techniques
- can utilize technical equipment needed for data acquisition
- is able to present scientific work orally and written
Student
- is able to evaluate methodological aspects of wildlife studies
- has a good understanding of problems associated with data acquisition in contrasting environments, from tropical forests to high altitude montane areas
- is able to work effectively in teams to solve practical problems in wildlife research
The course is a collaboration between INN and two Nepalese institutions, i.e. Kathmandu University (KU) and the National Trust for Nature conservation (NTNC). Staff from all institutions will take part in teaching. During the course, students will stay in two protected areas, one in the lowland and one in the Himalayan mountains. Learning activities will be divided in several modules, each with an introductory lecture, followed by group exercises in the field, and a seminar in the end (data labs and student presentations).
100% attendance on all course components. From each course module, the students must produce written or oral presentations that are evaluated as passed/failed.
Form of assessment | Grading scale | Grouping | Duration of assessment | Support materials | Proportion | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Written assignment | ECTS - A-F | Individual | 100% |