Classes at Penn State
Introductory Agroecology – AGECO 201
This class focuses on the introduction to the processes and considerations that lead to the development of integrated solutions to crop production. Students are taught about the ecological principles structuring ecosystems across multiple scales with an emphasis on concepts important to agriculture. It focuses on organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and landscapes, how they interact, and how different disciplines attempt to employ these interactions. The course highlights ecological processes that can be managed to improve the sustainability of agricultural systems.
Community Ecology – ECLGY 526
Community ecology is a branch of science focused on understanding the causes and consequences of biodiversity, including the generation, maintenance, and distribution of the diversity of life in space and time. This class focuses on the fundamental processes governing the assembly and dynamics of species biodiversity, with broad application across divergent systems (e.g., natural ecosystem and agroecosystems). Examples and study cases encompass distinct organismal types (e.g., microbes and microbiomes, plants, and animals), and trophic levels of biological organization. Students are taught about principles of community ecology at a conceptually advanced level with emphasis on real-world examples and study cases, and (when possible) in line with their ongoing research.