Stephen Sillett: Teaching
I teach botany courses to undergraduate and graduate students during spring semesters only. During fall semesters my graduate students, colleagues, and I do research on forest canopies.
Teaching Experience (# offerings)
- Botany 105 = General Botany (11)
- Botany 355 = Lichens & Bryophytes (9)
- Botany 535 = Forest Canopy Ecology (6)
- Botany 555 = Lichenology (3)
- Botany 557 = Bryology (1)
Current Courses (offered during Spring semesters)
Botany 105 — General Botany, 4 credit hours
- Format
- 2 one-hour lectures, 2 three-hour labs per week
- Description
- This course introduces students to the breadth of botany. Lectures explore cell biology, physiology, morphology, anatomy, evolution, and ecology of plants. A cladistic approach provides a framework for the study of plant evolution. Laboratories reinforce lecture material by giving students hands-on experience with all major plant groups. Indoor laboratory exercises are supplemented by a series of field trips around campus and through the Arcata Community Forest to teach students how to identify and think about plants. These trips are thematic and focused on the particular plant group being covered in lecture and laboratory, including fungi, bryophytes, ferns, and conifers. Non-native plants of particular botanical interest (e.g., cycads, gnetophytes) are the focus of excursions to the Greenhouse, where students learn the significance of these plants and are exposed to a wide range of adaptations not evident in native vegetation.
- Approach
- This introductory course serves a broad audience, including botany majors as well as students using it to fulfill a general education requirement in life sciences. The syllabus includes detailed advice on note-taking, preparation for laboratory exercises, techniques for keeping a laboratory notebook, and studying. Students purchase a laboratory manual at the beginning of the semester, which enumerates specific objectives of weekly exercises, highlights important terminology, and provides step-by-step instructions for completing the exercises. In the laboratory, students are exposed to a wide variety of materials, including living plants, dried specimens, and prepared microscope slides. Weekly laboratory quizzes reinforce student learning and maintain incentive to complete exercises. A series of three practical examinations require students to retain mastery of laboratory material throughout the semester. Lecture examinations (3 midterms plus the final) test knowledge of botanical terminology, life cycles, phylogeny, and ecology. In addition to textbook assignments, students are provided with supplemental readings via Moodle.
- Prerequisites
- none
Botany 355 — Lichens and Bryophytes, 4 credit hours
- Format
- 2 one-hour lectures, 2 three-hour labs per week
- Description
- This course provides intensive training to botany majors. Lectures explore the evolution, classification, physiology, ecology, and conservation of lichens and bryophytes. Lectures are supplemented by required readings from the primary scientific literature. In laboratory, students receive basic training in the identification of lichens and bryophytes with taxonomic keys. Much laboratory time is devoted to learning identification techniques specific to each group of organisms. The major writing assignment is a review of the scientific literature on an aspect of lichens and bryophytes the student finds interesting. In addition to submitting a written report, each student gives a 15-minute oral presentation as part of a symposium at the end of the semester. This assignment serves as a vehicle to improve student writing and oral communication skills.
- Approach
- A major goal of this course is learning how to dissect and identify lichen and bryophyte species. Laboratory examinations involve dissecting unknown specimens under microscopes and taking notes on their morphology, anatomy, and chemistry. Students use these notes to develop an identification key to their set of specimens—each student receives a randomized set that is returned after 3 hours—that is then submitted along with descriptions of each specimen one week later. Field identification skills are developed on trips to the Arcata Community Forest as well as Redwood National and State Parks, where major terrestrial habitats are explored with a hand lens. As the major writing assignment, students intensively review the primary scientific literature to answer a specific question about lichens and bryophytes, a process that complements the more extensive exposure to the literature they get from the reading assignments accompanying lectures. Reprints of publications and articles are posted on Moodle to provide examples of good scientific writing. Lecture examinations are essay format and require students to synthesize information from both lectures and the literature.
- Prerequisite
- Botany 105
Botany 435 / 535 — Forest Canopy Ecology, 3 credit hours
- Format
- 2 one-hour lectures, 1 three-hour laboratory or discussion per week
- Description
- This course exposes seniors and graduate students to the scientific investigation of forest canopies. Ecology of temperate and tropical forests is explored in lectures on canopy access, forest structure, tree architecture, tree physiology, canopy microclimates, epiphytes, arboreal animals, and nutrient cycling. In addition to the textbook (Forest Canopies, 2nd Edition), students read at least one paper from the primary scientific literature to accompany each lecture. Weekly discussions of this literature promote understanding of scientific results in light of ideas presented during lectures. Students are required to participate in these discussions and attend periodic weekend field trips to Redwood National and State Parks. Laboratory time is largely devoted to learning rope techniques for accessing tree crowns, and students participate in a field exercise (see Approach). The primary writing assignment is the development of a formal research proposal on some aspect of forest canopy ecology. These proposals are submitted in a series of four drafts, each intensively edited. So far, student proposals have generated 10 Master’s theses, 6 peer-reviewed publications, and $200,000 in extramural funding.
- Approach
- This may be the only university course devoted to the study of forest canopies in the United States. A major reason for a shortage of such courses may be safety concerns associated with tree climbing. We use arborist-style rope techniques as well as a new protocol designed for industrial rigging. At all times in the tree, students are connected to two, independent safety ropes. A mechanical device known as the Shunt (by Petzl®) connects the climber to the second rope at all times, including ascents and descents. Once properly trained, students help map the crowns of redwood trees on campus. All branches are non-destructively measured by quantifying their height, basal diameter, horizontal extension, azimuth, axis length, and proportion foliated. A small subset of these branches is then randomly selected for removal and dissection on the ground, after which the individual samples are dried and weighed. These data are used to estimate leaf biomass, bark surface area, and wood volume of entire trees and to demonstrate how whole-tree parameters can be quantified with minimal impact to standing trees. Students also assist with the monitoring of permanent reference plots in Redwood National Park and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. They learn how data collection on the ground can be used to provide a framework for more intensive measurements made by climbers in the canopy. The primary writing assignment gives students intensive exposure to the scientific literature and provides rigorous training in the development of a research plan, including a project budget. Successful NSF proposals are used as examples to provide students with a template for development of their own proposals.
- Prerequisites
- Botany 105, Botany 330, Biology 330
