Brian Schultz

Recent and Upcoming Courses

• Local Ecology and Agriculture

  This course is primarily for a relatively small group of more advanced students to pursue field studies in local agriculture and ecology. Our nearby area is actually quite diverse and interesting in its variety of ecological habitats and farming systems, and well worth knowing and studying. We will be outside a lot as weather permits and visit several nearby habitats and sites (e.g., mountaintops, flood plains, and bogs), farms, and research sites and institutes. We will also make use of our own Hampshire College farm, forests and fields, including the forest canopy walkway. The focus will be studies of vegetation, birds, insects and other invertebrates, and salamanders, among others. Some examples of previous and also ongoing possible projects include: how insects and birds occupy different heights in our forest, the distribution of insect predators as well as pollinators in and on the edge of our farm fields (as well as harvesting and analyzing some summer project crops), the distribution and behavior of red-backed salamanders in this area, the use of trail cameras to study local wildlife (mammals and birds), looking at microbes and vegetation in local bogs, experiments with parasitoid wasps (that are used for crop pest control), studies of garden beds, composting, and aquaculture, and more (new projects will emerge as we go). Instructor permission required.

• Introduction to Statistics and Experimental Design

  This course develops skills for designing experiments and analyzing data using standard statistical methods. Work will include the use of some common computer software and programs, such as Excel, R and Minitab. We will use a concise textbook plus other readings, and design and carry out data collection in class, with some data collected and analyzed by students on their own. We will also discuss examples in primary research articles and relevant aspects of the philosophy of science. The emphasis in this course will be on problems and interpretation, and being able to choose and use common methods for data analysis -- actually using statistics for data analysis.

• Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Farming, and Agroecology

  This course is a broad introduction to the science and practices of sustainable agriculture and organic farming, as well as agroecology, beyond organic. It will emphasize the study of the underlying science and related issues of key agricultural methods, along with some hands-on experience in the field and lab. We focus on methods that avoid the use of nonrenewable resources. We will visit/work some on the Hampshire College farm and in class some topics will follow the farm season (e.g., the coming of spring). Class work will include readings, discussions, and assignments aimed at understanding farm and sustainable practices in general. For example, we will study the basics of soil, fertility and biology, how to control major insect pests given their life cycles, pollinators and their conservation, how animals are produced in sustainable production, and economic/social issues related to sustainable agriculture. Some individual/small group project work will be required.

• Agriculture, Ecology, and Society

  This course looks at agriculture as a set of ecological systems and issues. It refers to ecology in both the sense of interactions between organisms (e.g., crops, pests, and predators) and their environment, and in the larger-scale sense of environmental impacts and related social and political issues. A broad range of topics will be covered, including pesticides and alternatives, soil fertility and erosion, the role of animals, genetically modified crops, biofuels, global vs. local trade and more. The course work will consist of readings, discussion, written assignments (with revisions as needed), work at the Hampshire farm, group and independent projects, guest lectures and films, and field trips. Given the fieldwork, students should always be prepared to walk and be outside (e.g., sun screen, rain gear, sensible shoes). Some fieldwork may include other times and days to be arranged in class.

• Terrestrial Ecology and Natural History

  This course will examine terrestrial ecology and natural history with an emphasis on our area and studies of the Hampshire fields and forests, as well as visits to other local points of interest (e.g., Mount Holyoke, the Conn. River flood plain, the William Cullen Bryant forest, local collections, and more); focusing on arthropods, herps, birds, and plants, but with attention to mammals, geology, etc. We will spend as much time as possible outside, weather permitting, and combine walking, seeing, learning, and experimenting with the local flora and fauna, with scientific sampling studies of such features as life under logs (e.g., millipedes and red-backed salamanders) or in the canopy (using the Hampshire canopy walkway), or the biodiversity of the Hampshire campus (including quantitative inventories, trail cameras, and museum-type collections for display in Cole Science), or the Hampshire college farm (e.g., bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, and predators too, as well as pests).