Pacific Northwest Natural History

Discovery Core Experience: NW Courses

B CORE 119 (NW)

60-Second Syllabus: Pacific Northwest Natural History

About This Course:

Natural History of the PNW is a course designed to familiarize students with the natural world through the lenses of science and traditional nature studies. Students will learn underlying principles of environmental and ecological sciences, their application to conserving and restoring natural habitats, approaches to observing and recording nature, and conveying this information in different venues. Students will develop an understanding of the interconnected relationships between human and natural systems with a great focus in the Pacific Northwest and its influence in the global context.

Class time will include short lectures, in-class discussions, and spending time outdoor observing nature in the UWB wetlands or other nearby locations. Students will participate in a quarter-long research project, and dedicate time to independent literature research, writing short field trip reports and communication pieces.

Professor Ursula Valdez (She/Her/Hers)

School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences

About Professor Valdez:

  • B.S. Biology, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima Peru
  • M.S. Zoology and Animal Behavior, North Carolina State University
  • Ph.D. Biology (Ecology and Conservation), University of Washington

Contact:

“I encourage student’s engagement, by providing opportunities for students to explore in their own interests related to the class and always incorporate the impact that natural sciences have in other disciplines or vice versa.” – Professor Valdez