© 2008 University of Idaho
 All rights reserved.

Office Hours: I have an open door, phone and email policy for my office hours. In general i will respond to any email or phone call within 24 hours and for those who can stop by and see me I will make time to chat.

Office: Phinney Hall 306, University of Idaho 
Phone:  208-885-7115
Email:   chadh@uidaho.edu  

Course Objectives: 
This online class is designed to give you an in-depth understanding of fire ecology and management in a variety of wildland ecosystems. Fire management involves predicting fire behavior and effects, as well as making decisions about fire as appropriate to natural resource management objectives. Fire management options vary greatly, and may include fuels management and education, fire suppression, wildland fire use, and igniting and managing a prescribed fire, post-fire rehabilitation, or no action. You will learn about the ecological effects of fire on plants, animals, soil, water and air. Our discussions about fire management will address current issues, including fire management in the wildland/urban interface, climate change, and effects of fires on watersheds, streams and riparian areas. We'll also read current scientific literature to gain familiarity with fire ecology research. We will emphasize fire as an ecological process in wildland ecosystems, how to characterize and predict fire effects over time and space, and how to apply this to restoration ecology.

Upon completing this course, you and the other students will be able to:

1. Understand fire as an ecological and physical process.
2. Describe the effects of individual fires and fire regimes on ecosystem processes.
3. Apply concepts of fire ecology to predict the effects of fire on species composition, structure, and function of ecosystems.
4. Apply your fire ecology knowledge to restoration ecology, including key concepts, the use of fire in restoration.

Format: 
The class sessions will be a combination of powerpoint presentations, discussion, and a research project.

Reading:

The required text for this course is: Agee, J. K. 1993. Fire ecology of Pacific Northwest forests. New York: Island  Press. 

Additional reading  assignments will be made for discussions, including a number of journal articles (available electronically from the UI library). To complete assignments, you must do extensive independent library research and reading of journal articles. 

Grading:
For all written assignments 10% of the your grade will be based on organization, clarity of reasoning, grammar, and spelling.  Your final grade will be assigned according to the University of Idaho scale (90-100%=A, 80-89%=B, etc.) based on points earned out of total available:

	POINTS
Exams (3, each 150 points)	450
Student Research Presentations	350 total
Part I	75
Part II	125
Part III	150
Ah Moments (4, each worth 25 pts)	100
Online Discussions  (4, each worth 25 pts)	100
TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE IN THE CLASS	1000

Exams: Three exams will focus on concepts and definitions (with examples), as well as on issues and applications in fire ecology and management. Exams will include short essay questions which will require you to utilize class readings, current fire ecology tools and the internet.

Student Research Presentations: This assignment will consist of 3 interrelated parts which are described below and which will all be submitted in Blackboard. I expect you to submit all these assignments in blackboard on time. If assignments are submitted late I will subtract 5% of the grade every other day until it is submitted, unless you have made prior arrangements with me to hand in your assignment late.

• Part I: The first part of this project is for you to brainstorm and develop a short (no more than 3 page) abstract outlining a topic related to fire ecology which you would like to research. You should highlight the specific question you will research,  why you choose this topic, why it is important, and show an outline of your paper. Your outline should include proposed headings and a brief description of what you might discuss (this should be the bulk of your write up) as well as a list of what primary literature you plan on using (you need at least 5 papers or books for full credit).  I will review your proposals and provide you comments on your topic. this part of the project is worth 75 points and is required to move on to part II. Failure to hand in Part one will disqualify you from receiving a grade on part two and three of this assignment.

• Part II: The second part of this project is for you to write a 5 to 10 page paper following your outline (not including figures and literature cited). This is not a first draft. It should be an example of solid professional work as it is worth 125 points. I will provide comments back to you on this paper so you can update and hand in a polished version in part 3. I strongly advise you to share this version with other students in the class so that you can incorporate their feedback and produce a strong paper.
      
       In general I expect these papers to be formatted as a scientific paper, you should include an introduction which discusses the importance and background of your topic followed by several paragraphs discussing the specific details of your topic. You should include literature to help support your claims and discussions. Followed by a discussion and conclusion section where you provide a summary of the important ideas form your paper and discuss the future of this topic.
   

• Part III: In this part of the assignment you will update part 2 based on my comments. Along with your updated paper you will also submit a document outlining how you handled the comments I provided you. This outline should included whether or not you made the recommended changes and justify any situations where you did not take my recommendations into account. 

Grading Rubric for Student Presentations Part I, II and III

Aha Moments: Throughout each topic in this course you may experience what is termed an "Aha!" moment. These are moments when something you have been reading or contemplating makes sense with an unexpected clarity. I will ask you to post on of your "Aha!' moments for different topics throughout the course. At the end of the semester I will also ask you to pick what you think is your best "Aha!" moment from this class.

For each Aha moment you should explain in some detail what the moment was, and why this moment seemed important to you in terms of your learning. In general I would like you to contemplate the experience and synthesize it within the context of other newly acquired knowledge.

Online Discussions: You will be graded on the basis of your input for each online discussion. One third of your grade will be based upon quantity, but 2/3 of your grade will be based upon quality (clarity of ideas and critical thinking) using the following grading rubric:

Online Discussion and Aha Moments Grading Rubric

	Points	Quantity	Quality
	90%	The student posted significantly more than two times on each discussion	The student used new vocabulary and readings, and clearly stated his/her rationale. In addition, student's comments build upon previous comments and relate the comments to the original question.
	80%	The student posted at least twice on each discussion	The student used information and vocabulary from the required readings and presentation and clearly stated the rationale behind their thoughts. Student's comments build upon both the original question and other student comments.
	> 80%	Students posted fewer than twice on each discussion	Student did not adequately use vocabulary and information from the required readings and/or did not clearly explain their rationale. Student did not clearly build upon other students' comments.
	0	You will get a score of zero if you do not participate in the threaded discussion within the 2 weeks available for each topic.

Writing and deadlines: All of your written assignments must be submitted in Blackboard   typed, double-spaced in 12-point font. Be sure to properly cite the source of your ideas to lend support and credibility to your assignment. Late papers and assignments will occur a reduction of 5% every day until they are submitted, unless prior arrangements have been made.

Plagiarism will NOT be tolerated: In this class, you must summarize, paraphrase, quote and reference sources to avoid plagiarism in your writing. Academic honesty is expected of you at the University of Idaho. Consistent with the plagiarism policy of the Department of Forest Resources, plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism violates the code of academic conduct at the University of Idaho. Under UI policy, regulation O-2, "Consequences for academic dishonesty may be imposed by the course instructor. Such consequences may include but cannot exceed a grade of "F" in the course". If you are accused of plagiarism, you must meet with the course instructor and the chair of the department to discuss the evidence, circumstances, and consequences. If you have indeed plagiarized text, you will receive 0 points on the assignment, you may fail the course and your unethical behavior will affect recommendations for jobs and graduate school.

Cite sources to support and lend credibility to your writing. Please be careful in citing sources for your ideas when you write. You should be aware that web-based searches for plagiarized text have become quite sophisticated. Even a sentence or two plagiarized in a long document is inexcusable. It is very tempting and easy to copy text directly, but it works against the educational process and is a form of theft. There are some good examples of plagiarized text as well as acceptable alternatives on the Forest Resources Departmental web site and elsewhere on the World Wide Web.

Accommodations for disabilities: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodations needed for the course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located in the Idaho Commons Building, Rm. 333, 885-7200,dss@uidaho.edu.