Session 1

Biology of Cities

Analyze the Urban Landscape

Urban environments are expanding rapidly. Nearly 5 billion people worldwide and over 80% of Americans now live in cities. Get hands-on experience conducting biological science in an urban environment by using the Stockton campus as a petri dish to collect and analyze animal behavior data. Students can continue their research after the Summer Institute by participating in a citizen science program.

You will learn from faculty and graduate students in the Department of Biological Sciences as you develop a scientific toolkit to better understand your increasingly urbanized world. In addition, you will gain deep insight into the nature of science, improve your scientific literacy and better appreciate your role in an important ecosystem.

Curriculum

You will use several software programs and advanced facilities and equipment—from thermal imaging cameras and programmable incubators to remote sensing devices and modern presentation spaces—to learn how to collect and communicate ecological data.  

You will first explore important aspects of urban environments, including temperature, food and water availability and light pollution. Then, you will design and perform your own experiment based on this solid foundation. Last, you will present your findings as a polished presentation to your peers in The Cube, a technology-rich collaborative space in the library.

Campus drone photo
Planned Topics

In the first week, you will first learn the fundamentals of designing experiments and presenting results. Then, every day will have a different theme: temperature, food, water, and light pollution. For each theme, you will conduct several experiments and create presentations based on your results. For example, you will analyze the chemistry and microbial content of water sources across campus in the morning and then spend that afternoon examining the effects of water limitation on animal behavior.

In the second week, you will shift toward designing your own urban ecology experiment in the field or laboratory. After performing the experiment, you will analyze your data and present your results to the group. In this way, you will get hands-on experience with the scientific method—from observation to conclusion—while also developing your communication skills.

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Zachary Stahlschmidt
Faculty Lead
Zachary Stahlschmidt

Associate Professor | Biological Sciences Department | College of the Pacific

Ph.D. in Biology, Arizona State University, 2011

Dr. Stahlschmidt integrates behavioral and physiological ecology to better understand how animals respond to ongoing environmental change. His experimental research is student-driven and he has mentored over 50 students in the past decade.

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